Rongbuk - Everest Base Camp - Lhatse

7.30am, the alarm-clock is ringing. An 8 km walk to the Everest Base Camp was on the plan. But not for me (Nicole). My stomach thwarted me again and dislike I had to leave Ramona on her own. Amy and Andrew didn't want to join anyway.

I (Ramona) was ready for takeoff. I had put on all T-Shirts, jumper and Fleece-jackets, 3 trousers and 2 pair of socks. This should keep me warm. It was 8.45am when I left the hotel. It dawne. The first two kilometers were quite easy, it was downhill. But the following were more difficult. In fact, it never was really steep uphill but even the slightest ascending slope wore me down. I steadily had to gasp. Now I really felt the 5,150 m. Every 100 m I had to stop in order to get my breath under control. My heart was beating like mad. Only now I realised that I had forgotten the oxygene. Well done! We had bought it especially for this. I was so glad every time I saw another kilometer stone. Only 3 more km to go and all of a sudden the wind set in. Of course from the front so that walking was even more difficult. But I won't give up. Then finally, the next stone. Only 2 km. But what was this? A hill of serpentines was in front of me. Do I have to pass this? Of course. I slowed down even more and still I had the feeling to almost drown. My legs lost more and more power. Then eventually, the last 1 km. At 10.45am I had made it. I was ever so proud! The sun was just showing up behind the mountain. There I stood now, all on my own at the Everest Base Camp.
Now the others can come and pick me up.

Amy, Andrew and I (Nicole) waited a long while for Nobu. As he hadn't shown up by 10.30am we woke him up. Only then we realised how cold it must have been in our room during the night. Degrees below zero as our water, tea, ... everything was frozen. It was even quite difficult to pack the rucksack. The hands so cold that one could hardly do up the zips. I also packed Ramona's rucksack. And I was shocked: the Oxygene! There she walks 8 km to the Everest Base Camp all on her own without additional oxygene. Hopefully she'll make it. I was really worried. Silly girl!

We picked up Ramona at 11.45am. Unfortunately I couldn't share her happiness as I didn't feel good at all. I even missed out on lunch. We took the same way back to Lhatse which we had
taken before. We were so happy when we finally arrived in Lhatse at 5.30pm. To warm up we went to the restaurant and had a cup of tea. Again it was an early night.

Lhatse - Everest Base Camp - Rongbuk

We started our journey at 9.45am. Again through the wonderful landscape. At the first checkpoint we had to show our passports. Then we passed the first high pass. Lhakpa La Pass, 5220 m high. It got more and more exciting the closer we got to the Himalaya. Again down into a valley and on the other side steep uphill. The Pang La Pass, 5150 m. And then - finally, around the last curve and there it was. The Himalaya! From here we could see four mountains of more than 8,000 m high. The Cho Oyn - 8153 m, Lhotse - 8501 m, Makala - 8463 m and the Everest - 8848 m. Gigantic!

We again had to go in a valley in order to then take the last ascending slope to the Everest. There was the next checkpoint. We had to pay Yuan 65 entrance fee for the Everest area. In the next village we had lunch and off we were again. Only 101 km more to go to the Everest Base Camp - 5150 m. The road was really bumpy. We needed another two hours until we finally were there. An icecold wind was blowing. Almost as strong as on Mt. Fuji. We climbed a little hill in order to take better pictures. We had to gasp a lot as the altitude could be really felt.

Actually, the Base Camp is just a very big area where during summer time hundreds of tents are set up, and in the middle a river. On the hill there was a bit of snow and the river was partly frozen. It goes without saying that Nicole and I had to play up in the snow and clamour on the ice. It always cracked and sometimes we sacked in ankle-deep. But luckily there was no water underneath.

Then we went back. 8 km from the Base Camp there is the Rongbuk Monastery. The highest in the world. After we had seen the temples we crossed the road to our room for the night. First we got some hot tea and something to eat. Then we went to our 4 bed dorm. There was neither a shower nor electricity. Just a few holes as a toilet.

We were quite knackered from the long journey and thus it was an early night.

Shigatse - Lhatse

8am - alarm clock one is ringing. 8.01am - second alarm clock. 8.03am - third one. We all switched them off and turned around again. Who needs breakfast? We all preferred to sleep a bit longer.

We were supposed to leave at 9am to drive to Lhatse. But there was another car in front of ours. Thus we had still breakfast. :)
On our way to Lhatse we stopped at the Sakye Monastery. Unfortunately at the wrong time. It was lunch break and most of the rooms were closed. We could only have a look at the great hall.
With regard to the landscape there was no big change to yesterday. High mountains desert, every now and then a river which was sometimes frozen and beautiful mountains. What caught our eyes was the fact that sheeps started to run crossing the streets when they had heard a car coming whereas donkeys were not interested at all. They keep on trotting, no matter whether there is a car or not. Is that the reason why we call them donkeys? :)

Lhatse actually is only a big street. Therefore we had quickly explored it. Back at our hotel we wanted to enjoy the sun but were quickly surrounded by kids. We played with them, learned a lot of Tibetan words - of course, we won't remember them tomorrow - ... We spent some time with the kids and only left them when the sun had gone and it was too cold.

Already about 6.30pm we went to bed. Without the luxury of a heating blanket it takes some time to warm up the bed and oneself. We read a lot in the shine of the candle as there was almost no electricity either.

Lhasa - Shigatse

We had to get up at 5.30am. Again that early! We are soo tired. But today our tour to the Everest Base Camp started. At 6am our jeep arrived. We put away our rucksacks and off we were. The first part was to Shigatse, about 250 km from Lhasa. About 8am it got gradually light. The landscape was great. Huge mountains around us and we drove through the gorge. Then we passed a jeep who had been broken down. Our driver, Nobu, stopped to help. It didn't take him long to get the motor running again. We continued our drive. The sun slowly squeezed through the mountains and it got really warm. Nobu unswervingly sang Tibetan songs. Not bad at all. Only sometimes when he had to really concentrate because he was driving too fast into a curve or because a sheep was running in front of our car and he only just avoided not to run over it, he stopped singing.

We drove along the Friendship Highway. At the beginning a good road but then sporadic holes. There were more and more and at some point it was no road anymore but a gravel runway. We got tossed to and fro. Our poor back. We reached a huge valley. A river with lots of arms wiggles through it. There were also sand dunes like in a desert. It just looked beautiful. Nobu stopped at the roadside and took the car jack. Why is that? The tyres are not broken. He fixed the steering. Probably because of all the road holes it was blocked. It didn't take long and we drove on.

At 12.30pm we arrived in Shigatse. Nobu took us to the Tenzin Hotel where we got a 4 bed dorm. Now we need to eat something. Collywobbles. We hadn't had anything yet except for candies. After lunch Amy went to have a power nap. ??? We are here in order to explore the city. How can one go and sleep? It didn't matter. We went off.

Not far from our hotel was the Tashilunpo Monastery. We followed some pilgrims on a hill where the kora was. This was leading around the monastery, 3 km. After a while we thought we could climb the hill behind the monastery up to the flags. But where is the path? It lookes like it is a bit further up. Thus, we took a shortcut over the rocks. But we couldn't find a path. It didn't matter. We are used to climbing mountains. It was quite slippery with all that scree. Whether we are allowed to climb up? Of course, someone must have put the flags up there anyway. After 45 minutes we reached the top. Wow, what a view! Fantastic! We sat there for quite a while. The eagles were flying above us, the sun was shining and it was really warm.

At 5pm we forced ourselves to descend. This was quite dangerous. Really steep and slippery. But we managed it like a pro. Of course, we as old mountain climbers. Back down we walked the rest of the kora.

We were back at the hotel quite early. This was good as we had to make good for some sleep.

Lhasa

Ganden Monastery, second try! The alarm-clock was ringing at 5.45am. No more stomach problems but today we were both even more tired. Anyway, we forced ourselves to get up and left the hotel at 6.10am. 10 minutes later we were in a bus with only Tibetan pilgrims. And two kids had even to give their seats away for us. Of course, it was still dark outside and we couldn't see anything of the landscape. We were only happy that the windows remained closed. Even though there were a lot of people smoking. But it was soo cold. No wonder, even the windows were frozen from inside which reminded me of my beetle back at home.

About 8.10am we arrived in Ganden. It still was not really light and the moon shone on the houses of the village. Now we are at 4,500 m. How will we manage the altitude? We followed the pilgrims. First a bit uphill. We passed people trying to sell us coloured flags. These coloured flags are holy and almost everybody puts one on a bush or tree. This looks really good if there are loads of these flags at one place. Also the landscape was fantastic. Everywhere mountains and in the valley a river which looks like a delta. From above here one has the impression that all the stream courses together will build a huge lake in case it pours down with rain. Again and again we had to stop to take pictures. We walked around the mountain and then had a look at the village with its monastery. We saw the sunrise and gradually it got warm. We decided to walk around the mountain a second time and now everything looked even more beautiful. We could have sat there for hours just enjoying the landscape.

At 1pm we got on the bus. My teddy kangaroo from the outdoor shop caught the attraction of the Tibetan. I losened it from my jacket and gave it to a girl. After that the kangaroo did a round through almost the whole bus. It seems they had never seen anything like that before. Actually, now, in the daylight they were all interested in us and looked at us all the time. We could only reply though with a nice smile.

About 4pm we were back in Lhasa. As we hadn't eaten yet we went to the Tashi Restaurant. Then we hired two down sleeping bags in the outdoor shop and bought some oxygene for our trip to the Everest Base Camp. Who knows, maybe we'll need it. Back in the hotel we packed our rucksacks and prepared everything for the tour. We were both really excited!

Lhasa

Ganden Monastery, second try! The alarm-clock was ringing at 5.45am. No more stomach problems but today we were both even more tired. Anyway, we forced ourselves to get up and left the hotel at 6.10am. 10 minutes later we were in a bus with only Tibetan pilgrims. And two kids had even to give their seats away for us. Of course, it was still dark outside and we couldn't see anything of the landscape. We were only happy that the windows remained closed. Even though there were a lot of people smoking. But it was soo cold. No wonder, even the windows were frozen from inside which reminded me of my beetle back at home.

About 8.10am we arrived in Ganden. It still was not really light and the moon shone on the houses of the village. Now we are at 4,500 m. How will we manage the altitude? We followed the pilgrims. First a bit uphill. We passed people trying to sell us coloured flags. These coloured flags are holy and almost everybody puts one on a bush or tree. This looks really good if there are loads of these flags at one place. Also the landscape was fantastic. Everywhere mountains and in the valley a river which looks like a delta. From above here one has the impression that all the stream courses together will build a huge lake in case it pours down with rain. Again and again we had to stop to take pictures. We walked around the mountain and then had a look at the village with its monastery. We saw the sunrise and gradually it got warm. We decided to walk around the mountain a second time and now everything looked even more beautiful. We could have sat there for hours just enjoying the landscape.

At 1pm we got on the bus. My teddy kangaroo from the outdoor shop caught the attraction of the Tibetan. I losened it from my jacket and gave it to a girl. After that the kangaroo did a round through almost the whole bus. It seems they had never seen anything like that before. Actually, now, in the daylight they were all interested in us and looked at us all the time. We could only reply though with a nice smile.

About 4pm we were back in Lhasa. As we hadn't eaten yet we went to the Tashi Restaurant. Then we hired two down sleeping bags in the outdoor shop and bought some oxygene for our trip to the Everest Base Camp. Who knows, maybe we'll need it. Back in the hotel we packed our rucksacks and prepared everything for the tour. We were both really excited!

Lhasa

The first alarm clock went off at 5.35am and the second not at all. Nicole had forgotten about the time difference to Germany and so set her mobile for the wrong time. But luckily she was awake anyway. We wanted to go to the Ganden Monastery and the only bus going there leaves at 6.30am. I was just about to get up, as Nicole ran to the toilet. That doesn't sound good. Diarrhoea. Guess we better stay at the hotel. So we went on sleeping. We had a really relaxing day and Nicole could get rid of her sh!ts.

We'll try again tomorrow.

Lhasa

After breakfast (two soft boiled eggs, Tibetan bread and very sweet Tibetan jam) I worked on the computer to get my pictures done. Ramona in the meantime started to write the first Christmas cards.

At 1.15pm we met with a Tibetan who organised our tour to the Everest Base Camp. We got served butter tea... gee, we only had sips but the guy always poured more in our cup. But we didn't like it at all. In any case, our seven day tour will start on Friday at 6am.

On our way back to the hotel we bought a yellow round fruit Paul has told us about. It was big as a water melon and we didn't know how to eat it. Thus we asked our Nepalese cook in the hotel ... ah, well, it's a grapefruit. But much better than at home - not bitter at all and really sweet.

In the evening we met Nicole, a Dutch girl, for dinner. She has already been travelling in Tibet for several weeks. Al knew her and had made the contact between us. We got on quite well and laughed a lot. Also because of some women celebrating hilariously the "woman day". They laughed, danced and sang the whole time. We got the Tibetan alcohol "Chang" to try. It smells and tastes like a mixture of cider and a certain kind of wine (Federweisser). Actually quite good. I only learned later that it had been beer what we drank. Me and beer? Will I in the end start to like beer?

Lhasa

At 9am we met with Amy and Andrew for breakfast at the hotel restaurant. We discussed the Everest Base Camp trip which we wanted to do together. It run so smoothly. We all had the same ideas of the trip. Great! Lianne, the Dutch girl from the Snowland Hotel, finally answered our message. We will meet at 12pm in the café opposite the hotel.

We found out that she already had found 2 other persons for her tour. But that was ok, as we were going with Amy and Andrew anyway. Lianne gave us a few tips of what to see. She had been travelling through Tibet for two months already. She also told us with whom she had booked her tour, as it was much cheaper than the one we got offered, although her trip was 2 days longer. Lianne was going to meet with the guy at 1pm and invited us to join. Ups, that was not very good timing for Nicole and me. We were supposed to meet Paul at the blind school. No problem. Amy and Andrew agreed to go alone. So we went on our way to the school.

On the way we stopped at a fruit stand to buy some for the kids. The guy at the stand really thought he could fool us. He wanted Yuan 150 for not even a kilo of mandarins, a pound of grapes and some kind of melon. That would have been over Euro 15!! He was obviously dreaming! We gave him Yuan 50, which still was too much, and left.

We found the blind school quickly. Paul was already waiting for us. We chatted a little with a cup of tea and then he showed us around and introduced us to the students. 32 children between 3 and 16 lived here. They all ran around wildly and played. They all spoke English very well and welcomed us wildly. When we asked them how they were, they answered: I am happy! A lot of the children had deformed eyes or couldn't open them at all. The blind rate in Tibet is very high compared to other regions in the world. Of 2.5 million inhabitants, 30,000 were officially known as blind. The reason is the climate and the lack of hygiene. Too high UV spurts, wind and dust, and too much soot from burning coal and Yak dung (Tibetan cow) in the huts and also lack of vitamin A.

Paul wanted to take the kids to the Potala Palace to take some pictures for a Christmas postcard. Great. That's where we wanted to go, too. So we joined them. Paul took the little ones in the car and the big kids went by foot. Nicole and me right in the middle. All around the clicking of the blindman's stick. It was amazing to see how they mastered the curbs and other balks. Even crossing the road was not a problem at all. They were chatting along and some were singing Tibetan songs. It was so great to be able to experience it all. At the Potala we met Paul with the little ones. Now the children had to line up for the photo. This was not really a problem, but all the nosy people who surrounded us and didn't leave us air to breathe. It was much more work to make them step aside a bit than to line up the kids. After the photo shooting we had to say good-bye. This will always be some forgettable hours in our life.

We wanted to visit the Potala Palace and went to the entrance. The palace was huge. It has a 1,000 rooms, but only 25 were open to the public. At the entrance they told us the Potala was closed. Why? But their English was not that good. What do we do now? Let's go to the Summer Palace. And how do we get there without the travel book? We'll ask at a hotel. They did speak English a little but of the Summer Palace they have never heard before. Strange, or maybe they only know it under a different name? Well, let's go to the Tashi restaurant instead and have some cheese- and chocolate cakes. Maybe after that we will have more luck.

We went to a small temple which was hidden behind the houses in a small alley. Paul had told us about it. Here were many beggars. It did get a little uncomfortable as we didn't want to give them money and we didn't have any more food with us. Also, if you give something to one of them, the others will come as well. We went to the entrance and stopped. There were so many people praying. In the middle sat a few monks who were saying a prayer through some loud speakers. We really would have liked to go in but we were a little scared. We didn't want to disturb them. The
people seemed to be happy to see us and were all greeting us with: "Tashi delek" which means hello how are you. An elderly woman who sat next to the entrance signaled us to take off our hats and go inside. Should we really? But already a little boy came and pulled us with him. We went round the praying way through the whole temple. There were only little space to walk, so many people sat here. Everywhere candles were burning and it was nice and warm. In front of the walls were many Buddha statues where the praying people put money. The boy always turned round to make sure we were still there. How sweet. At the exit he left us. He hadn't spoken a word.

We went to the Barkhor Square. Hundreds of pilgrims were walking their rounds. Today was a kind of mothers day or valentine. All men gave presents to their women and went to pray with them. If we could also go inside the Jokhang Temple now? We tried it and just lined up with the others. An in we were. Everywhere were police men to get the masses of people moving. The main cathedral unfortunately was closed and so we went with the pilgrims round the praying way. What an
experience.

On our way back to the hotel we met Amy and Andrew. They wanted to go and eat. So we joined them. We still had to discuss how the meeting with that guy at lunch time went.

Lhasa

We obviously had needed our sleep. We only got up at 1pm. For breakfast we again hat the delicious potatoes. Today, the Jokhang Temple was closed for us. So we strolled around the Tromsikhang Market. Actually, the whole area is a market. One can buy fruits, butter, bread, potatoes, vegetables, clothes, climbing ropes, nails, safety pins, ... just everything. And of course everything from the Yak. Meat, milk, tea, tents, fur, ... The Tromsikhang Market is as a shopping mall on two floors. On the first floor one can only buy butter. Yak butter. It looks like cheese, also smells like cheese. We tried it ... it is butter! The whole floor smells like butter. One really needs getting used to this. On the second floor one finds also shoes, clothes, food, chemist, electrical equipment, stationery, toys, ... just like a shopping mall. And still different. Most of the salesmen/women sit cramped and squeezed on a chair behind or in front of the stuff they sell. They can hardly move and one questions how they got their at all.

On our way to the nunnery we strolled through some alleys and back roads. Great - we could see how people here live. But the nicest was with the kids. Dirty clothes, dirty hands, running noses ... and still cute! They were so happy when they could say "hello" in English. We started to take pictures of them which made them totally crazy. Again and again more pictures, in all positions, alone or with others. Even elderly women did want to be on the pictures. When we showed them the pictures, we were almost knocked over. Everybody wanted to see him/herself first on the display. How they laughed when they had seen themselves on the picture! They were so excited and happy. They even took the camera of our hands, wanted to take pictures themselves. We didn't have the heart ... and gave them our cameras.

In another corner we played football with the kids. Their eyes shined when they played the ball to us. They laughed so much when we held our head after a header. We had great fun and it was really nice to see how easy it is to make children happy.

The nunnery wasn't what one would expect. What we had seen were a few houses arranged in a square in which the nuns live. An absolutely peaceful place though. A few nuns did the washing in a font, otherwise we only got to see a few nuns going from one house to another. It was amazing though how young they all seemed.
In the evening we had dinner in the famous Tashi restaurant. Here we got to know Paul, the partner of the world-wide known blind German woman Sabriye Tenberken, who has opened a blind school here in Lhasa. (www.braillewithoutborders.org). Paul told us so much that we agreed on meeting again tomorrow in the blind school.

Chengdu - Lhasa (Tibet)

Suddenly with a jump we sat upright in bed. What was that noise outside out room? Bursting glas and something (or someone?) fell with a loud bang off the second or third floor. It sound like someone fell onto a car. But the noise didn't stop. We could hear low voices and then someone knocked on our door. Very scary. Everything was dark. It was only 4.30am. It was the hostel manager. He was looking for a Japanese who he thought was sleeping in our room. This night we had a full room again. We woke up the Japanese guy. He was asked to help translate. On the third floor a Japanese man was going mad and broke all the windows. Nobody could understand him. But today it was impossible to solve the problem. The guy was too much in a shock. And that from a Japanese. We only know them calm and friendly.

At 9am we got up. We still didn't know when our bus will leave to the airport. But first we went to have a shower. Who knows when we will get the next one in Tibet. When we were ready, we met Tenzin, the guy who booked our flight tickets. Our bus will leave at 11am. Now, we also got to find out what had happened last night. The Japanese thought to have lost all his money. It must have been quite a lot. He got such a shock that he totally freaked out. But this morning the money was found again.

Now we had to pack. We have almost forgotten how to do that. It has been such a long time. At 11am we got picked up by the bus to go to the airport. The check-in went smoothly and quickly we sat in our plane. Tibet, here we come! Another dream comes true. At 3.10pm we landed. The sun was shining and all around were mountains. It looked wonderful. From the airport to Lhasa it was still 93 km to go, so we took the bus.

At the Flora Hotel they welcomed us with a hot cup of tea. We got a double room, which over here they call dorm, for Yuan 30. Even with a private toilet. The shower was 2 doors further though. And the best is: we have an electric blanket! Oh, this will be such a nice warm night.

We went for a little walk through the town. Back at the hotel a tour organizer was awaiting us. The
receptionist had called him, as she heard that we were interested to go to the Everest Base Camp. What a service! The man offered us a 5 day trip for Yuan 4,800. The price is per car. So if we find some other persons who would like to join... And there came Amy and Andrew, the Australian couple who were on the plane with us, through the door. They were thrilled of the idea. Great. We will discuss the details tomorrow and then book the tour.

Chengdu

This morning nothing worked. Only at 11.30am we forced ourselves to get up and booked our flight to Lhasa. No breakfast today as we preferred the great potatoes in the Renmin Park. So we went there for the second time. Today we took another entrance and surprisingly had only to pay half of the entrance fee. The potato booth though was closed. Lunch break. OK, we'll come back. We wanted to go to the Underground Museum first. But we probably were just too stupid again. We went to and fro, back and forth, asked several times for the direction but we didn't manage to find the museum. After we had passed the potato booth for the fifth time and it was still closed we had enough. Now, we'll have a burger at McD.

There a Chinese girl and a guy from New Zealand were looking for English teachers. Their offer was really alluring and we got their business cards. One never knows.

Now we need some more clothes for Tibet. We found loads in the big shopping mall and also got to know LinYaLan, a young Chinese girl. She helped us translating with the sales women. She really seemed to enjoy that so that she and her friend DengLingLing decided to take us to another shopping street. Here one can cheaply buy hats, scarfs, gloves, etc. LinYaLan bargained for us and we went off brimming with plastic bags. But on top of this they also invited us for dinner in a famous hotel-restaurant. We got served so many dishes, one after the other. Always more - and we had to try everything. Oh dear! At the end we got a picture taken at the Tianfu Square with the four of us.

Chengdu

The day started with a long Internet session. Whether we'll manage to type our reports today? No, we didn't. Too many emails wanted to be answered. But tomorrow is another day.

In the evening we had something to eat and wanted to go to the movies which we couldn't do yesterday. Unfortunately though, we had forgotten the cinema's address in our hostel. With the help of our phrasebook we wrote the Chinese name. It's not that easy at all to draw these Chinese characters. But the taxi driver could read it without any problems.

We watched "The league of extraordinary gentleman" with Sean Connery. Thank God the entrance fee was only Euro 1. Every other Euro would have been a waste.

Chengdu

Today was my (Ramona) birthday so I got to sleep very long. At noon Nicole came to wake me up for breakfast. She had already ordered our mueslies and lit a candle for me. How sweet! I even got two presents. Yippie!

In the afternoon we went shopping. Tony, the tour guide from the hostel, offered us to show us round some outdoor shops. His boss and the cook joined also. Maybe we can find an even better jacket than the one from yesterday. But no, nothing. We thought we would now go to some other shops, but Tony said they would have to do some work now. How nice. If we had known that before.

We took a taxi and went to Sam's Guesthouse. Here we wanted to check also, if there are some other oportunities to get to Tibet. And there was an outdoor shop just next door. Sam's Guesthouse also only offered flights which cost Yuan 1,750, just like at our hostel. And the outdoor shop didn't have any jackets either. So we went to the shop from last night. They had promised to keep the jackets until tonight. But when we got there, the bunny said she had just sold the red one. How can that be? Yesterday we asked 3 times wheather it's possible to hold them for us! What cheek! Nicole was really angry. She had chosen the red jacket. Unfortunately, they only had this one jacket. The bunny went to speak to her boss. When she came back, she said that they would go and get the jacket back. The guy who bought it is a friend of the boss, so it wouldn't be a problem. Wow! We had to wait about 30 minutes and Nicole got her jacket, too. Of course, we now asked for a discount as we had to wait so long. We got the jackets Yuan 70 cheaper. Perfect!

To celebrate the day, we went to the restaurant next door again. HighFly Pizza. Just like yesterday it was ever so delicious! After dinner we wanted to go to the movies. But the show had already begun and the next one only started at 10.15pm. Far too late. We went back to the hostel and met Mats with a girl. They wanted to watch a dvd and asked us if we would like to join. Sure! So we did get to see our film in the end.

Well, so fast the birthday was over. Although it was just a normal day, it was also a unique one. I don't think it will be soon that I will be celebrating my
birthday in China again. I'd like to say thank you to all of you who thought of me and sent me all the lovely emails.

Leshan

Leshan, we want to go to Leshan. Famous for the largest sitting buddha in the world. 71 m high. We mustn't miss that and went on our own as tours to Leshan were too expensive. To our surprise we got there without any problems. Not once we were lost and were really proud of ourselves. To take the best picture of the buddha one needs to be on a boat. OK, let's take the boat then. But our disappointment was huge. As huge as the buddha is tall. Gee, is he ugly. And his face, hands and feet had just been redone. And we even want to walk there? Not really! We let a coin decide which really amused the Chinese on the boat. We had to walk! It was nice but the buddha ... well, for us it wasn't worth going there. In addition to that, the whole trip had still been quite expensive.

We had to get rid of our frustration in a Western restaurant. We just needed it. One of the only warm places in Chengdu (another one is McD!) Here, the Chinese leave the doors and windows open all day long. And it's sooo cold here. It's not that the Chinese don't freeze, even they wear thick coats, hats and scarfs ... but they want fresh air to breathe! That's probably the reason why we got such a bad cold in Chengdu. Anyway, we've been to that Western Restaurant and we really enjoyed it. It not only was warm, no, the laminate floor was so clean that we didn't have to pay attention where to put our rucksacks. The chairs were so soft almost like armchairs. Plates and glasses were clean, good music. The atmosphere was very warm, no burbing and spitting, loud Chinese. A real event. But we weren't used anymore to eat with knife and fork as we are now Champions in eating with chopsticks. The food itself was a feast. Mushroom cream soup, garlic bread and a delicious pizza. We had to order three dishes as we couldn't decide ... but couldn't eat everything. Far too much. Including a coke and a tea we only had to pay about Euro 5. Actually quite expensive for China!

In an outdoor shop next door we found two nice down jackets. We will definitely need these for Tibet and asked the bunnies whether they could keep them for us until tomorrow. Certainly, no problem at all.

Chengdu

We were picked up by Crow, a young Chinese girl, at 7.10am. Today we'll spend a day with her at the Sichuan University. Two lessons of English, two lessons of Japanese and after the two hours lunch break two lessons of English literature - the first two for Ramona and me. Not only for that reason these were the most interesting to us. The teacher was so enthusiastic and excited when he interpreted Antony's public speech of Julius Caesar. We almost believed to listen to Antony himself. Ramona even imagined everything in pictures - with closed eyes and open mouth. She even nodded confirming. Whether the teacher has seen her? He finished his one hour monologue and opened the second lesson for discussion. We were asked to tell about Shakespeare and his significance in our life. It was obvious that he would pick me as well to stand in the front. But what should I tell about Shakespeare? Today it's the first time I read something from him (not about him!). But I was lucky and was allowed to talk about anything I wanted as I was 'one of the two young ladies from Germany'. I talked about our impressions of China. Together with Ramona we then discussed with the students how to best learn English. The hour passed far too quickly. But after that discussion many students weren't afraid anymore to talk to us.

It was almost 5pm when we left the university. Quite tiring. Long time ago that we went to school.

Chengdu

Another day of recovery. Gee, what a slow progress. Today was shower day. After 6 days and all this laying in bed it was about time. The water was really hot. It felt so great. We almost felt like being born again.

In the early afternoon we got to meet Mats from Sweden. He arrived during the night. We went out for lunch with him, as he didn't know where to go and he said he always gets ripped off. Strange, we never experienced that so far. Maybe it's because he is still very young. We showed him that it is possible to get good food for less than Yuan 10. Soup, a big plate of rice with vegetables and pork and hot water to drink (in China they drink hot water like mineral
water) for only Yuan 4.3 per person.

The rest of the day we spent in front of the pc, typing reports for our web.

Chengdu

Another day of recovery. Gee, what a slow progress. Today was shower day. After 6 days and all this laying in bed it was about time. The water was really hot. It felt so great. We almost felt like being born again.

In the early afternoon we got to meet Mats from Sweden. He arrived during the night. We went out for lunch with him, as he didn't know where to go and he said he always gets ripped off. Strange, we never experienced that so far. Maybe it's because he is still very young. We showed him that it is possible to get good food for less than Yuan 10. Soup, a big plate of rice with vegetables and pork and hot water to drink (in China they drink hot water like mineral
water) for only Yuan 4.3 per person.

The rest of the day we spent in front of the pc, typing reports for our web.

Chengdu

Another day of recovery. Gee, what a slow progress. Today was shower day. After 6 days and all this laying in bed it was about time. The water was really hot. It felt so great. We almost felt like being born again.

In the early afternoon we got to meet Mats from Sweden. He arrived during the night. We went out for lunch with him, as he didn't know where to go and he said he always gets ripped off. Strange, we never experienced that so far. Maybe it's because he is still very young. We showed him that it is possible to
get good food for less than Yuan 10. Soup, a big plate of rice with vegetables and pork and hot water to drink (in China they drink hot water like mineral
water) for only Yuan 4.3 per person.

The rest of the day we spent in front of the pc, typing reports for our web.

Chengdu

Today, Ramona feels better as well. Therefore, we spent the whole day online in order to answer our emails. We can still type the reports tomorrow.

In the evening again two movies and in bed I could finally start Ramona's bible "Lord of the Rings".

Chengdu

Today, Ramona feels better as well. Therefore, we spent the whole day online in order to answer our emails. We can still type the reports tomorrow.

In the evening again two movies and in bed I could finally start Ramona's bible "Lord of the Rings".

Chengdu

The flu is only passing away slowly. Again we spent the whole day in bed. Today we couldn't even get the delicious muesli for breakfast. The cook apparently had to do some very important business. And therefore he lets us sit hungry?!

The rest of the day was just like yesterday. 6pm Internet and 8pm DVD. Sorry if it gets boring. We are really doing our best to get better soon. But it's not
easy without a heater.

Chengdu

The flu is only passing away slowly. Again we spent the whole day in bed. Today we couldn't even get the delicious muesli for breakfast. The cook apparently had to do some very important business. And therefore he lets us sit hungry?!

The rest of the day was just like yesterday. 6pm Internet and 8pm DVD. Sorry if it gets boring. We are really doing our best to get better soon. But it's not
easy without a heater.

Chengdu

I (Nicole) feel better today. The Japanese oil of medical plant seems to help. But somehow not for Ramona. She still had her nose stuffed. In the whole
room one can smell our medicine. It's good that they don't put other guests in our room. Like this we are on our own in our sick bay.

In the evening we watched another DVD, had Chinese noodles and lemon tea.

Chengdu

I (Nicole) feel better today. The Japanese oil of medical plant seems to help. But somehow not for Ramona. She still had her nose stuffed. In the whole
room one can smell our medicine. It's good that they don't put other guests in our room. Like this we are on our own in our sick bay.
In the evening we watched another DVD, had Chinese noodles and lemon tea.

Chengdu

I (Nicole) feel better today. The Japanese oil of medical plant seems to help. But somehow not for Ramona. She still had her nose stuffed. In the whole
room one can smell our medicine. It's good that they don't put other guests in our room. Like this we are on our own in our sick bay.
In the evening we watched another DVD, had Chinese noodles and lemon tea.

Chengdu

I (Nicole) feel better today. The Japanese oil of medical plant seems to help. But somehow not for Ramona. She still had her nose stuffed. In the whole
room one can smell our medicine. It's good that they don't put other guests in our room. Like this we are on our own in our sick bay.
In the evening we watched another DVD, had Chinese noodles and lemon tea.

Chengdu

Mir (Nicole) geht's heute wieder besser. Da scheint das japanische Heilpflanzenoel ja doch zu helfen. Nur bei Ramona anscheinend nicht. Sie hatte immer noch die Nase voll. Unser ganzes Zimmer riecht danach. Nur gut, dass man keine anderen Gaeste zu uns ins Zimmer steckt. So sind wir ganz alleine in unserem Lazarett.
Am Abend goennten wir uns wieder eine DVD, chinesische Nudeln und Zitronentee.

Chengdu

Great, it had really hit us. We caught a really bad flu. Getting up for sightseeing was not an option. Everything hurt and the nose was leaking. We slept the whole day. At 5.30pm Nicole got up to get some vitamines in form of oranges and aples.

At 8pm we got so fed up with laying in bed. We got up, took our blanket and went to the dvd room to watch a few films. The stay in Chengdu will probably end up to be much longer than planned.

Chengdu

Great, it had really hit us. We caught a really bad flu. Getting up for sightseeing was not an option. Everything hurt and the nose was leaking. We slept the
whole day. At 5.30pm Nicole got up to get some vitamines in form of oranges and aples. At 8pm we got so fed up with laying in bed. We got up, took our
blanket and went to the dvd room to watch a few films. The stay in Chengdu will probably end up to be much longer than planned.

Chengdu

Great, it had really hit us. We caught a really bad flu. Getting up for sightseeing was not an option. Everything hurt and the nose was leaking. We slept the
whole day. At 5.30pm Nicole got up to get some vitamines in form of oranges and aples. At 8pm we got so fed up with laying in bed. We got up, took our
blanket and went to the dvd room to watch a few films. The stay in Chengdu will probably end up to be much longer than planned.

Chengdu

At 7.30am we went to the Giant Panda Research Base of Chengdu, together with Amy, Nick, Lianne and a French guy. Every morning at 8.30am the pandas are fed in their panda houses. We were just in time. There they are these cute black-white animals. Sitting like us human beings on their bum and eat one bamboo leaf after the other. They didn't care about us tourists at all. From time to time though they stared at us but their whole concentration was on the leaves. When they are full, they look for a comfy place and sleep until they get food again at 2pm. What a life!

New born pandas don't look like pandas but rather like a
mouse without a tale. Only in the following months their black-white fur develops. In the first 1.5 years the panda baby is fully dependant on its mother. Only then, between 3 and 5, they get independant. Whether this is connected to the fact
that they get pubescent at the same time? This is also the time when they start dating and eventually marry. Well,
and between the age of 5 and 18 they only hang around and sleep.

Did you know that there are red pandas as well? We didn't! But we saw them. They are much smaller and have a long bushy tale. They are also more active than the black and white pandas.

Amy, Nick and Lianne said good-bye to us. For them it's too cold in Tibet. Moreover: They didn't have time.

Ramona, who got a bad cold, went to bed. I wanted to update my diary but made a fatal mistake: I 'quickly' went online and didn't touch my diary at all.

In the evening I could join Ramona. We both sat in our room just sniffing and sneezing.

Chengdu

At 7.30am we went to the Giant Panda Research Base of Chengdu, together with Amy, Nick, Lianne and a French guy. Every morning at 8.30am the pandas are fed in their panda houses. We were just in time. There they are these cute black-white animals. Sitting like us human beings on their bum and eat one bamboo leaf after the other. They didn't care about us tourists at all. From time to time though they stared at us but their whole concentration was on the leaves. When they are full, they look for a comfy place and sleep until they get food again at 2pm. What a life! New born pandas don't look like pandas but rather like a mouse without a tale. Only in the following months their black-white fur develops. In the first 1.5 years the panda baby is fully dependant on its mother. Only then, between 3 and 5, they get independant. Whether this is connected to the fact that they get pubescent at the same time? This is also the time when they start dating and eventually marry. Well, and between the age of 5 and 18 they only hang around and sleep. Did you know that there are red pandas as well? We didn't! But we saw them. They are much smaller and have a long bushy tale. They are also more active than the black and white pandas.

Amy, Nick and Lianne said good-bye to us. For them it's too cold in Tibet. Moreover: They didn't have time.

Ramona, who got a bad cold, went to bed. I wanted to update my diary but made a fatal mistake: I 'quickly' went online and didn't touch my diary at all.

In the evening I could join Ramona. We both sat in our room just sniffing and sneezing.

Chengdu

At 7am we got woken up. It was already quite busy. Everybody was packing. At 8am we arrived in Chengdu. The pick up service from the dragon town hostel was already waiting for us. Perfect. The hostel was similar to the one in Xi'an. It also had quadrangle and no heating in the rooms.

At first we had to do some washing. This time it was easy to fill the machine as we were 5 people to put clothes in. Afterwards we went to the Renmin Park. Here was supposed to be some kind of "underworld". A museum. But we couldn't find anything. So we went to the tea house. Of course outside. On every table there were old Chinese who played games. Mostly something what looked like Domino.

We didn't sit for long, as a Chinese guy joined us. His name is Lee. In the beginning we thought he only wanted to talk to us. His English was really good. He told us a lot about China and places we should visit and about traditional martial art. Very interesting. Only later we found out that he organises tours for tourists. Off the beaten track. He was not at all intrusive and we really apreciated that. We were really interested in martial arts and so we descided to go to a training school where the new champions for the worldcup were trained.

It was so faszinating to watch the 12-17 year old boys and girls. Each of them knew at least 3 different disciplines. Sward, lance, stick, chain, shadow fighting, ... Although the training was so hard, one could still see how much fun they had. No matter if they had to repeat something for 20 times before they got it right. Even when they should have a break they wouldn't stop. Fascinating. At the end we got a little presentation. The champions of tomorrow.

For dinner we went to a restaurant near our hostel and tryed the hot pot. Man, that really was hot. We could nearly spit fire.

Chengdu

At 7am we got woken up. It was already quite busy. Everybody was packing. At 8am we arrived in Chengdu. The pick up service from the dragon town hostel was already waiting for us. Perfect. The hostel was similar to the one in Xi'an. It also had quadrangle and no heating in the rooms.

At first we had to do some washing. This time it was easy to fill the machine as we were 5 people to put clothes in. Afterwards we went to the Renmin Park. Here was supposed to be some kind of "underworld". A museum. But we couldn't find anything. So we went to the tea house. Of course outside. On every table there were old Chinese who played games. Mostly something what looked like Domino.

We didn't sit for long, as a Chinese guy joined us. His name is Lee. In the beginning we thought he only wanted to talk to us. His English was really good. He told us a lot about China and places we should visit and about traditional martial art. Very interesting. Only later we found out that he organises tours for
tourists. Off the beaten track. He was not at all intrusive and we really apreciated that. We were really interested in martial arts and so we descided to go to a training school where the new champions for the worldcup were trained.

It was so faszinating to watch the 12-17 year old boys and girls. Each of them knew at least 3 different disciplines. Sward, lance, stick, chain, shadow fighting, ... Although the training was so hard, one could still see how much fun they had. No matter if they had to repeat something for 20 times before they got it right. Even when they should have a break they wouldn't stop. Fascinating. At the end we got a little presentation. The champions of tomorrow.

For dinner we went to a restaurant near our hostel and tryed the hot pot. Man, that really was hot. We could nearly spit fire.

Xi'an - Chengdu

We are five people wanting to take the train to Chengdu today. Whether the bunny will manage to get our tickets? The Service Center is open from 7.30am, but it was still closed at 9.45am. Well, has this something to do with our tickets? We went to have breakfast with Amy, Nick and Lianne. One hour later we tried again. The Service Center was still closed. We gradually got impatient and asked at the reception. Apparently everything will be fine. But we couldn't really believe it without having our tickets. Then, finally, around 11.45am the bunny arrived. In her hands our tickets. Even one for Lianne - and all in the same compartment. We couldn't believe our luck!

19 hours to Chengdu. How will we kill that time? Until we had put away our luggage and eventually sat comfy on our bunks in the hard sleeper, more than half an hour had passed ... The poor young Chinese in our compartment. She probably felt repudiated and therefore took a seat in the aisle. Hmm, are we looking as a gang? No, of course not! We only adapted our attitude to the Chinese one: regardless of the others. But we just couldn't copy their spitting.

We killed the time with playing cards and had lots of fun. Was this also because of the 45% Chinese alcohol we had? At 10.30pm the lights were switched off. General bed time. OK, let's have an early night for once.

Xi'an

At 9.30am the tour to the Terracotta Army was supposed to start. But before we had some breakfast with Amy, Nick and Lianne. Wow, they had lots of choices. English, European, American, Swiss. We took the Swiss breakfast. Muesli, yoghurt, toast, butter, marmelade and eggs. How delicious. We quickly booked our traintickets to Chengdu for tomorrow. The bunny at the office said no problem, we could pick up our tickets tonight.

A sixth person joined us and off we went. Our guide really spoke English this time. She told us a lot about Chinese history and the Terracotta Army.

First we were taken to the Terracotta fabric. Here they manufactured copies of the army. From very small to livesize. To make a livesize statue it would take up to 5-6 days. Now we went to the real ones.

The Terracotta Army were the guards of the thomb of Qin Shi Yuang, the former emperor. There are over 8,000 soldiers and horses in the grave. Each one looked different. 2,000 years ago Qin ordered this thomb to be made for him. But it only got finished long after his death. Altogether it took 40 years. This marvel was only found in 1974 by a farmer who wanted to dig a well. The excarvations are not finished yet and it will probably take another decades.

After a small lunchbreak we went to the underground palace of Qin Shi Huang. This was only a copy of the real one though. The real one was not excarvated yet. They fear that it would decay when touched by oxygine. They are still working on a way to prevent the palace.

Originally, we wanted to go to a Chinese tea ceremony at the end but our guide forgot to tell the bus driver and so he took us back to the hostel. We descided to go anyway and tried to get a taxi. That was quite difficult as it was rush hour. All was occupied. When we finally stopped one, we all jumped in quickly, before the driver could change his mind. 6 people on the backseat. It was slightly too little space. Of course, the driver didn't want to go. Too dangerous, police, bla bla. And that from a Chinese, when they stuff everything full to nearly bursting. Our guide could eventually plead him to drive.

The tea ceremony was not at all like the Japanese one. More like a German wine tasting. Only we didn't get drunk. We got 7 different teas to taste. Very
delicious.

Back at the hostel we picked up our train tickets. Lianne had descided to come with us to Chengdu also. Now we were 5 altoghether. Amy, Nick, Lianne and us two. And all in the same wagon. That's gonna be so much fun! Great, everything worked out. But only 2 hours later the office bunny came back and said there was something wrong with our tickets. They were issued for the 22nd instead of the 23rd. Can this be true? We had explained her so many times. Well, you better get this corrected quickly then. She spent 2 hours on the phone. Then she said it was solved. Our tickets will be delivered tomorrow morning.

Xi'an

At 9.30am the tour to the Terracotta Army was supposed to start. But before we had some breakfast with Amy, Nick and Lianne. Wow, they had lots of choices. English, European, American, Swiss. We took the Swiss breakfast. Muesli, yoghurt, toast, butter, marmelade and eggs. How delicious. We quickly booked our traintickets to Chengdu for tomorrow. The bunny at the office said no problem, we could pick up our tickets tonight.

A sixth person joined us and off we went. Our guide really spoke English this time. She told us a lot about Chinese history and the Terracotta Army.

First we were taken to the Terracotta fabric. Here they manufactured copies of the army. From very small to livesize. To make a livesize statue it would take up to 5-6 days. Now we went to the real ones.


The Terracotta Army were the guards of the thomb of Qin Shi Yuang, the former emperor. There are over 8,000 soldiers and horses in the grave. Each one looked different. 2,000 years ago Qin ordered this thomb to be made for him. But it only got finished long after his death. Altogether it took 40 years. This marvel was only found in 1974 by a farmer who wanted to dig a well. The excarvations are not finished yet and it will probably take another decades.

After a small lunchbreak we went to the underground palace of Qin Shi Huang. This was only a copy of the real one though. The real one was not excarvated yet. They fear that it would decay when touched by oxygine. They are still working on a way to prevent the palace.

Originally, we wanted to go to a Chinese tea ceremony at the end but our guide forgot to tell the bus driver and so he took us back to the hostel. We descided to go anyway and tried to get a taxi. That was quite difficult as it was rush hour. All was occupied. When we finally stopped one, we all jumped in quickly, before the driver could change his mind. 6 people on the backseat. It was slightly too little space. Of course, the driver didn't want to go. Too dangerous, police, bla bla. And that from a Chinese, when they stuff everything full to nearly bursting. Our guide could eventually plead him to drive.

The tea ceremony was not at all like the Japanese one. More like a German wine tasting. Only we didn't get drunk. We got 7 different teas to taste. Very
delicious.

Back at the hostel we picked up our train tickets. Lianne had descided to come with us to Chengdu also. Now we were 5 altoghether. Amy, Nick, Lianne and us two. And all in the same wagon. That's gonna be so much fun! Great, everything worked out. But only 2 hours later the office bunny came back and said there was something wrong with our tickets. They were issued for the 22nd instead of the 23rd. Can this be true? We had explained her so many times. Well, you better get this corrected quickly then. She spent 2 hours on the phone. Then she said it was solved. Our tickets will be delivered tomorrow morning.

Xi'an

Tomorrow there'll be two more persons wanting to go the Terracotta Army so we postponed our trip to tomorrow. Will be cheaper for us.

We hired bikes in order to explore Xi'an. Ramona got a bike apparently only two months old and from Japan. Well, we could hardly believe that as not even the brakes were working. Then I had a look at my bike. I was speechless. This one is at least 50 years old. Totally rusted, rickety, the saddle only a cover on the feathers, the bicycle stand didn't work properly; I don't have to mention the brakes, do I? Well, this will be fun! Indeed, it was fun - we immediately felt homelike, did hardly look at the traffic lights, only cycled all over the place, the others will make room for us. Yes, we were two of them. It doesn't take long though to cycle into a car or into a pedestrian - especially if the brakes don't work - it sometimes is quite dangerous. And although there are wide streets for cyclists one always needs to keep one's powder dry and expect everything.


We went to two pagodas, "Big and Small Goose Pagoda", as well as to two food markets. One in the muslime quarter, where in narrow streets and alleys they sell islamic food, meat, eggs, sweets, and and and. Here, it doesn't matter that raw meat is hanging on a hook and next to it one is shoveling and sieving sand, bikes are getting repaired, etc - the market simply is alive. The second food market was at least as interesting. Dried and fresh fruits, grains, nuts, fish and meat but also frogs, turtles and snakes - all alive. What a pity that we couldn't see how there will be prepared to be eaten.

In the evening we went to the Dumpling party organised by the Hostel. Dumplings are pastry envelopes filled with meat or vegetables. The guests or employees of the hostel meet in order to prepare and eat the dumplings together. A good opportunity to meet other travellers. Like i.e. Amy and Nick from England and Lianne from Canada. We should be travelling with them for the next couple of days. Astonished and surprised I was about how small the world in fact is when I got to know a girl from Konz (just next to my home village). In the middle of China.

Xi'an

Tomorrow there'll be two more persons wanting to go the Terracotta Army so we postponed our trip to tomorrow. Will be cheaper for us.
We hired bikes in order to explore Xi'an. Ramona got a bike apparently only two months old and from Japan. Well, we could hardly believe that as not even the brakes were working. Then I had a look at my bike. I was speechless. This one is at least 50 years old. Totally rusted, rickety, the saddle only a cover on the feathers, the bicycle stand didn't work properly; I don't have to mention the brakes, do I? Well, this will be fun! Indeed, it was fun - we immediately felt homelike, did hardly look at the traffic lights, only cycled all over the place, the others will make room for us. Yes, we were two of them. It doesn't take long though to cycle into a car or into a pedestrian - especially if the brakes don't work - it sometimes is quite dangerous. And although there are wide streets for cyclists one always needs to keep one's powder dry and expect everything.


We went to two pagodas, "Big and Small Goose Pagoda", as well as to two food markets. One in the muslime quarter, where in narrow streets and alleys they sell islamic food, meat, eggs, sweets, and and and. Here, it doesn't matter that raw meat is hanging on a hook and next to it one is shoveling and sieving sand, bikes are getting repaired, etc - the market simply is alive. The second food market was at least as interesting. Dried and fresh fruits, grains, nuts, fish and meat but also frogs, turtles and snakes - all alive. What a pity that we couldn't see how there will be prepared to be eaten.

In the evening we went to the Dumpling party organised by the Hostel. Dumplings are pastry envelopes filled with meat or vegetables. The guests or employees of the hostel meet in order to prepare and eat the dumplings together. A good opportunity to meet other travellers. Like i.e. Amy and Nick from England and Lianne from Canada. We should be travelling with them for the next couple of days. Astonished and surprised I was about how small the world in fact is when I got to know a girl from Konz (just next to my home village). In the middle of China.

Yuncheng - Xi'an

Today, we finally had a lay in. Juhu! At 11.30am we slowly creaped out off bed. Al had to go across the streat to pick up his train ticket. So we went with him to see if they could also book the train or the bus for us to Xi'an. Al will be leaving us today. He needs to go to his teaching contract.

The man at the ticket office did not speak any English of course. But he called a girl from our hotel who came over to help. She advised us to take the bus to Xi'an as it's a lot cheaper and would only take about 3 hours. She would also take us to the busstop and show us the right one to get. Well, that sounds perfect. We went back to the hotel to packed our stuff. We asked the girl to book a room for us at the Youth Hostel in Xi'an and off we went to the bus stop. First, Al was brought to his bus and then we to ours. Yuan 50 was the price to Xi'an. Very cheap for 300 km.

Our bus left at 1.30pm. We went through never ending plains. To our left there was a high mountain range, covered by mist. At 5pm we arrived in Xi'an. We took a taxi to the hostel where they were already expecting us. The hostel was built like a temple. It looked very ethnic. We got a 4 bed room for Yuan 40. They also had a tour office and internet. We asked directly for a tour to the terracotta army tomorrow. No problem, but as we were only 2 people it would cost us Yuan 200. If we find 3 more we would only need to pay 120. Wow, very expensive.

We strolled a little through the town and had something to eat. As we got back to the hostel there was still nobody else who would like to join us tomorrow. We asked some other travellers at the dinning room, but some of them had already been and the others would rather take the local bus. That would only cost Yuan 10. Well, if it's like that, I guess we might do the same.

Yuncheng - Xi'an

Today, we finally had a lay in. Juhu! At 11.30am we slowly creaped out off bed. Al had to go across the streat to pick up his train ticket. So we went with him to see if they could also book the train or the bus for us to Xi'an. Al will be leaving us today. He needs to go to his teaching contract.

The man at the ticket office did not speak any English of course. But he called a girl from our hotel who came over to help. She advised us to take the bus to Xi'an as it's a lot cheaper and would only take about 3 hours. She would also take us to the busstop and show us the right one to get. Well, that sounds perfect. We went back to the hotel to packed our stuff. We asked the girl to book a room for us at the Youth Hostel in Xi'an and off we went to the bus stop. First, Al was brought to his bus and then we to ours. Yuan 50 was the price to Xi'an. Very cheap for 300 km.

Our bus left at 1.30pm. We went through never ending plains. To our left there was a high mountain range, covered by mist. At 5pm we arrived in Xi'an. We took a taxi to the hostel where they were already expecting us. The hostel was built like a temple. It looked very ethnic. We got a 4 bed room for Yuan 40. They also had a tour office and internet. We asked directly for a tour to the terracotta army tomorrow. No problem, but as we were only 2 people it would cost us Yuan 200. If we find 3 more we would only need to pay 120. Wow, very expensive.

We strolled a little through the town and had something to eat. As we got back to the hostel there was still nobody else who would like to join us tomorrow. We asked some other travellers at the dinning room, but some of them had already been and the others would rather take the local bus. That would only cost Yuan 10. Well, if it's like that, I guess we might do the same.

Yuncheng

At 7am we set off to the Hukou Falls. Our guide picked us up on time. The drive to the falls should originally take 4 hours but in the end it were 6. We went through a lot of small villages. Then through some mountains. We could see the Yellow River down in the valley. The water was brown, but for the Chinese it is yellow. That's where the name comes from. Along the river there was one coalmine next to the other. Inbetween some fields. Cornfields. The harvested corn was pilled up on the roofs of the houses and in the fenceholes to dry. We had to cross another mountain area, and then we finally arrived at
the falls. It was very foggy and it sometimes looked very spooky with all the trees.

The falls were gigantic. Hukou Falls means "The pipeing tea cettle", because the rushing water is so loud. The Yellow River in this place is 400m wide and gets squashed into a 20m gap to fall 20m deep. One can even go underneath the falls, just like at the Niagara Falls. The spray of the falling water flew meter high. Amazing, how much water runs down here.

At 2pm we went on our way back. It was already dawn as we reached the mountain area. The fog was even thicker now. Cleaning the windscreen and lights didn't help at all. Fiona and the driver were constantly looking out off the open sidewindows to see at least a little bit. It looked pretty dangerous sometimes, especially when the edge was close to the road.

Everything went fine in the end. We didn't have to stay over night on the mountains. It was 9.30pm as we got back to the hotel.

Yuncheng

At 7.45am we were getting up. We wanted to go to the Hukou Falls today and they were about 150Km away. A long way. In this Hotel they had breakfast included. We surely couldn't miss out on that. Chinese breakfast. What might that be? Full of expectations we went to the restaurant. We got served. Rasped carrots, cucumber, sellerie, leek with beans and some other unidentifyable vegetable. All marinated in a sauce. A soup which tasted like watery porridge and some rolls. It didn't taste too bad, exept for the soup, but for breakfast it needed getting used to.

After breakfast we went off looking for the CITS office. In our travel book it said that the office was in the Yuncheng Grand Hotel. So we took a taxi. But no office was to be found. We explained to the receptionist several times until she finally understood what we were looking for. And we found out that there was another hotel with the same name. The receptionist wrote us down the name and the adress of the hotel in Chinese which we could then show to the taxi driver.

Now we found the right place. Unfortunately, also in the CITS office nobody spoke English, but the owner called an English speaking woman who came over shortly to help us. We told her that we would like to go and see the Hukou Falls today and she translated to the Salesman. It was really possible to go today. By bus with a guide, of course English speaking, for Yuan 1,200. Wow, that's expencive! Can we not have it a bit cheaper? But it was useless. The Salesman stuck to his price. Ok, but before we agree, we would like to meet the guide to see how good the English was.

It took quite a while until the driver and the guide showed up. Actually, a little too late to still go today. By the time we get there it will start to get dark. We'd rather do the trip tomorrow. Then she said, why not go to the Yongle Gong, the Palace of eternal Joy in Ruicheng, today? Ok, as there was nothing else to do. Yuan 600. But now we have to get a reduction. We are now buying 2 tours. And finally, the Salesman agreed to Yuan 1,600 for both tours together. Well, 200 is better than nothing.

Our bus driver and guide were 2 student girls. But their English was not really what we had expected. They couldn't talk much. We started driving, to our surprise in a normal car. Didn't we just talk about a bus? The drive took about 2 hours. We went through the Zhongtiao Mountains, 1000m high. The road was running very closely along the edge. Everywhere road holes. It was raining an was very foggy. We could hardly see 20m. Very scary.

The palace was including 3 main temple and a small village surround. There even was a garden and a small lake. The walls of the main temples were painted with the story of the live of the former King. What a shame that the weather was so bad. Otherwise the palace would have looked quite beautiful. The palace stood once further south, at the Yellow River. 1959 it got moved to todays palce brick by brick, as the dam which is now being built had fludded the town Yongle.

At 5pm we were back in Yuncheng. We agrranged the meeting time for 7am tomorrow morning. Hopefully, the weather will be a little better.

Linfen - Yuncheng

8.30 Uhr arrival in Linfen. Just around a corner to the CITS office, a Chinese travel agency. After long discussions they finally understood what we wanted: Three train tickets for this afternoon to Yuncheng as well as a drive to the Flying Rainbow Pagoda. The tickets we could pick up at 2pm. Well done! With a taxi we went to the Pagoda. We wanted to climb nine of the 13 floors, as high as we could get. It was a real adventure and a lot of fun. One didn't necessarily have to have climbing skills but some cleverness and a bit of bravery were helpful. Sometimes the steps are more than knee high and only a few cm wide. After a few steps one needs to turn around and climb further up in the other direction. Everything just in the shine of our headlight. The higher we got, the narrower it was. On the 9th floor - we didn't even know it was already the 9th floor - it was so tight that only a mouse would have been able to climb further up.

After the pagoda we were taken to Susan's prison. Susan, a former famous prostitute, had been in that prison for a long time. In a cell of 4 x 4 m big cell, where there was no light at all.

Back in the CITS office we got our train tickets. Then we had our lunch there. Chinese noodles as the 'Heisse Terrine', just much better.

As we still had two hours to kill, we went for a walk in Linfen. I got the heels of my hiking boots repaired just as Ramona in Datong. What really caught our eyes was that there are a lot of colleagues of Susan. They all sit behind large glas panes in a room with a bed or a sofa and a television waiting for clients. During the day and in the middle of the town. Everybody passes them and everybody can see who enters the rooms. That they get clients at all ...

In front of the train station there are a few pool tables. Al and Ramona played together and I played with an eldery Chinese man. He really enjoyed it to disgrace me. But in the second game he almost let me win. At least I didn't have any balls on the table anymore.

We arrived in Yuncheng around 6pm and went immediately to the hotel next to the station. Finally a room with our own bathroom again. And it was clean as well.

Datong - Linfen

Just after lunch we went to town. We wanted to go to the post to finally send our parcel home, to the bank for Al to get some cash, and to an internet cafe with USB and where we can install our software for our digi cameras. The latter seemed to be impossible. There are no PCs with CD Rom. The post and bank was not easy either. All post offices we went to only handled national post. The banks did not accept foreign credit cards.

Then we found a cobbler sitting on the street. Nicole unfortunately forgot to bring her shoes. I asked him to repair mine. The sole was pretty worn out from climbing all those mountains. But I didn't feel very comfortable about the repair. What if the sole got worse than before? The cobbler took a big piece of gum from a tire and cut it to a smaller piece. He glued it to the sole and hammered some nails in it. He cut the edges and ready he was. Well, hopefully it's not all spoiled now. But it wasn't. It felt a bit wobbly, but it was alright. Well then, I also gave him the other one to fix. It was quite faszinating. Out off a tire he made a new heel. And that for only Yuan 4 = Cent 50! In Germany we would have easily paid 10 times more and would have had to wait for a week to get the shoes back.

We walked for several kilometers until finally we found the right post office. Here, we could also send international parcels. Although it seemed like they don't do that very often, as it took an hour to get it packed and ready to be sent off.

Now we took a taxi to the main Bank of China. They were open today, but cash one could only get on weekdays. Where is the logic in that? The bunnies at the counter sent us to another branch of the bank. And finally we were lucky. The ATM accepted foreign credit cards.

At 5pm we went back to the station to pick up our train tickets for tonight. The night train to Linfen is going to leave at 9.20pm. We still had lots of time to kill. Nicole wanted to go back to the cobbler to get her shoes fixed also. It's already dark , but maybe he will still be there. I went to the internet cafe and waited there for them to get back. They didn't take long. Unfortunately, the cobbler had left already.

The train left right on time, as usual. We had booked hard sleepers (there were also soft sleepers for first klass travelers). The bunks were arranged in 3 storeys. We had bought 2 bottles of wine which we now killed while playing cards. Just like in the good old days. At 10.30pm all off a sudden the lights went out. Sleepingtime. One couldn't hear a sound anymore. But that off course didn't stop us. We took our torches and continued. At 0.30am we sneaked into our bunks.

Datong

8.50am. We were just about to leave when suddenly that woman of our hotel stood next to our car. What does she want? How many nights we would like to stay? Well, two! We had already paid for two nights yesterday. Oh, oh, whether this will turn out to be ok?

We drove to the Cloud Ridge Caves. In those 45 accessible caves, which stretched across one kilometer from East to West, one can see more than 50,000 buddhas. All from more than 1,500 years ago. We did see quite impressive and huge buddhas.
The Hanging Temple was another highlight. On our way there we sometimes passed dramatic landscape scenery, often also covered by snow. The temple had been built 1,400 years ago along the cliffs of a rock face. The individual buildings are connected through bridges and aisles. The view from both
underneath and out of the temple had been great. It's amazing what during that time they had thought out and even realized.
For another Yuan 50 our driver also took us to the Wooden Pagoda, another 50 km to go. When we got there it was sunset and the pagoda was shown in a very beautiful light. The pagoda is from the 11th century and is one of the oldest wooden buildings in the world. The specific thing of the 97 m high, 9
floor pagoda is, that no nail has been used for its construction. Inside it sometimes was quite dark and we couldn't really see where to put our feet. Some planks didn't give us the best security. Still it was a pity that we couldn't climb to the top.

The drive back to the hotel was an adventure of its own class. The driver thought he would have to take a short-cut. Maybe the distance was a shorter one. But it definitely wasn't faster. Huge street holes, partly the road was no road anymore but rather a mogul slope. We touched bottom several times and we were quite happy when we finally reached our hotel. Alive. As assumed, after a really long discussion we really
had to pay for another night.

Beijing - Datong

At 3.03pm our train to Datong is going to leave. It was only 11am so we still had some time. We wanted to send another parcel home and write some postcards. The hostel owner told us that there is a post office at the station. Perfect. We prepared everything and at 1.30pm we took a taxi to the station.

The station building was so huge! Nearly like an airport. We even had to go through a luggage inspection. We looked for the post and found it straight away. But unfortunately they told us: no international parcels. What a shame!

The train was similar the one in Russia. At every wagon there was a conductor who collected our tickets and gave us our seat tickets. There were banks for 3 and 2 people. Everything was very small though. We had some difficulties to store our luggage. And again we were the highlight on the train. Everybody was watching us. The seats were very tiny. Well, they were made for small Asian people and not for big westeners. The train ride took 5.15 hours. We already got used to the burping, spitting and the terrible smoke.

In front of the station in Datong, a lot of locals greeted us and wanted to offer us accomodation. Nicole went to a woman to ask the price and suddenly she had vanished. Al was talking to a taxi driver who should take us to a hotel. So I better go an look for Nicole. She knows she is not supposed to go with strangers. Where could she be? She stood in a backyard and wanted to have a look at one of the rooms. Thank God.

The room didn't look too bad. Al had found us as well. We descided to stay. Yuan 30 per person, that's not too bad.

The taxi man offered us a sightseeing tour to the hanging temple, the cloud ridge caves, the 9 dragon wall and the bell tower for tomorrow. Everything for Yuan 260. Not bad. We arranged to meet him tomorrow morning at 8.30am.

To close the day, we went for a stroll through town. It looked much poorer than Beijing. All was grey and broken. On the roads there was still some ice. It was much colder here.

Beijing

Ramona and I wanted to see the Ming Tombs today, the tombs of 13 of 16 imperors of the Ming dynasty. Three of these tombs are open to the public. But we were even more interested in the street with many different animals made of stone. The tour was a day-tour and we had to get to the long distance bus station. There we were attacked immediately by screaming people wanting to sell us tickets for bus no 1. We didn't want a ticket for bus no 1, we want to get to the Ming Tombs.

Well, what should I say? I think, we had joined a Chinese "cafe" excursion. For about Euro 15, the Chinese only had to pay Euro 12. Announced as a tour to the Great Wall in Badaling and to the Ming Tombs, we saw a lot of other things - or should I rather say shops? -, which we didn't need to see or didn't even want to see! In a minibus together with a lot of Chinese, with a Chinese tour guide. He was babbling all the time. Of course in Chinese! But step by step:

1. Great Wall in Badaling - all very touristy; good that we had been in Simatai
2. Museum about Jade - we don't need jewelry
3. One doesn't really need lunch at a round table together with eight gobbling and burbing Chinese; the dish itself though was very good
4. sweets shop - we tried every sweet at the trying table but it goes without saying that we didn't buy anything
5. Ming Tombs - public tombs, where are they? We only saw a grave hill which we crossed as well
6. Street with stone animals - it's closed, we cannot get there. That's not fair! :(
7. Chinese Medicine - why is that? We are not sick! That's what we thought. The doctor though, who had only checked our pulse and saw our tongue, told Ramona about her low blood pressure (and that's why she always suffers from cold hands and feet) and told me about my inner heat. Of course, they wanted us to buy some medicine as well. No, not with us.

Although we didn't see what we had wanted to see it was a very interesting and sometimes quite funny day with the Chinese.

Beijing

Again a day with a full program. The three of us first went to the silk market. Here stands one clothes shack next to another. All tiny wooden sheds. As soon as one stops in order to have a closer look, one gets attacked by one of the sales women. At the beginning they just yell horrendous prices at you. But when one bargains a bit, they quickly decrease their prices. And if one decides against buying they start pleading and begging one should buy for an even cheaper price. It was pretty intense. But we also enjoyed it when the sales girls did speak good English and we could fool around.

In the middle of the market stood a woman with her bike and trailer. She sold food. Rice, noodles, vegetables, meat, ... We had our lunch here. We got a bowl of rice and then we were allowed to take as much food as we wanted. And as often as we wanted. One only pays when one is full. Yuan 7, about Euro 1. It was delicious!

Now we wanted to the mausoleum at the Tian'anmen Square and visit president Mao. We even had our passports with us which we have to show to get in. But what was that on the sign? Open from Tuesday to Saturday. But in the Lonely Planet ...

Nicole and I wanted to go to the Temple of Heaven's Park. Al had already seen it so we seperated here. We took a rickshaw to the Temple. Of course, we had agreed on the price beforehand. 20. But when we arrived we couldn't believe our ears. 20, the man said. US-Dollar 20. What? You are joking. We are in China and here we pay with Yuan. We gave him Yuan 50 and went off. He wasn't pleased at all but did let us go.

The Temple of Heaven lies in a huge park. If one walks through the main entrance and takes the long uphill way towards the temple, it really looks as if one would walk towards heaven.

In the hostel we met Al again. We had booked the bus for 6.30pm to go to the Beijing Opera. The show was fantastic. In the Beijing Opera only men play. Rouged and in a skirt one hardly sees a difference. Not even in their movements. They all sang a very high tone. Impressing. They played two stories. Of course, it always is about love and broken hearts.

Beijing

Al and I got up quite early today. We wanted to surprise Ramona with a lovely breakfast and went shopping. Good that here the shops are open on Sundays (not as in Germany). Here there are different kinds of supermarkets: the one we know with one cassier where you pay for everything and the other one similar to the ones in Russia, many shops in one big shop. We bought bread, cheese, tomatoes, jam, milk, ... everything we longed for.

Again I realized how sportive Chinese people are. Tai Chi, dancing, jogging, riding the bike, ... one can see them everywhere, no matter how old they are. They also like to fly a kite.

Ramona and I went to see the Drum & Bell Tower. Both are in an area in which one wouldn't expect any sights at all. From the top of the bell tower we had a nice view on Beijing. In the drum tower there are drum performances every half an hour. We mustn't miss these! Six monks hit the huge lying drums with
two sticks. The rhythm was great, it sounded just so good! We couldn't leave it either. After their performance we took the sticks ourselves. But for whatever reason it didn't sound at all like what we had just heard.

In the evening we went to the movies. Here, one can sit comfortable on a sofa or an armchair. Well, to us to sit comfortable and to sit on these sofas are two different things. Not enough room for our legs and the backrests are also not high enough. What movie did we see? Well, I don't really want to loose a word about Matrix 3.

Beijing

At 9.30am we had our breakfast. Far too early, I was still dizzy from last night. Nicole and I had planned to go to the summer palace today. It was quite a way to get there. We took the subway and later we wanted to take bus no. 375, as stated in our travel book. We found the bus stop very quickly but the drivers didn't want to let us in. Every time we asked, they said no and waved their arms. Why? It said in the book to take bus no. 375 and also on the city map! Finally the 3rd bus let us in.

The summer palace comprises 290ha of which 220ha is a lake. Around the lake the palace city was built. There were 3 hills. On the main hill was the summer palace and all the temples. Altogether there were more than 3,000 buildings. It took 15 years to construct everything. The lake was devided by a damm on which one could walk, what we off course did. There also was an island. It was conected to the main land with a
150m long bridge. The 17 arch bridge. On both sides of the railing were stone lions. 544 of them and each in a different position. What a marvel the whole thing was.

We stayed at the lake for the sunset. Than we wanted to go back to the hostel. But where was the exit? It should have been here. That's where we came from. But everything was locked. We had to go back a long way and got out on the other side of the parc. How mean.

Beijing

Today, we have the Lama Temple on our programme, the most colourful temple in Beijing. In one of the pavillons there is a huge buddha of 18 m, who was even in the Guinness book of the records a couple of years ago. We wondered why. It's only 18 m. In Leshan, there's a buddha of even 71 m!

At the PSB (Public Security Bureau) we applied for a visa extenstion. 30 more days for about Euro 10. We can pick up our passports already on Thursday.

Further down to the post office, where I (Nicole) wanted to pick up my parcel. DHL had wanted to deliver already yesterday. I wondered ... Well, they hadn't. It didn't surprise me though; it's not the first time I have problems with them.

On our way to Al, who was in an Internet-Cafe, we came to the Tian'anmen Square. What a coincidence. They will haul the Chinese flag in 10 minutes - as every day at 5pm. That's a spectacle. One can see a troop of soldiers, marching 108 paces per minute, 75 cm per pace. And then they haul the flag and off they are. A bit annoying had been the many art students who are up to every trick to sell their 'piece of art'.

The house, in which we wanted to see the Beijing Opera, is not far away from the Tian'anmen Square. But only on the map. After we had asked several people again and again we learned that the house is being renovated and therefore closed. This is now the second evening in a row that we couldn't do what we wanted to do. There was only the bar street left in order to get rid of our frustration. We stayed quite long - for me probably a bit too long as I needed fresh air already long time before we eventually left.

The snowballfight of Al and Ramona on our way back to the hostel was superbe. --> Foto. :)

Beijing

At 8.30am our alarm clock rang. We took a taxi and went to the real International Youth Hostel. It's at the workers stadium as we found out last night. We got a double room, the dorms were still full. Hopefully there will still be a bed left tonight. Al wanted to stay here as well and he was coming back from the US tonight. Nicole is going to surprise him and pick him up at the airport tonight.

Now quickly to the forbidden city. We took the bus, here we only need to pay Yuan 1 = Cent 12! Unbelievable! It was already 11am as we got there. Terrible traffic. At the entrance to the forbidden city we lent one of the audio tours. It was raining and freezing cold. But that doesn't bother us. There were countless buildings and temples in the city. Hard
to believe that everything was built in only 14 years. The city is surrounded by a high red wall. Everybody who lived inside the wall was not allowed to go outside ever again and the other way round. Only the king could go outside the wall. About 6,000 people lived in the forbidden city. We needed 2 hours to finish the tour. It was so interesting.

Just before we got to the exit a Chinese man came over. He wanted us to have a look at his art gallery. But we... well ok. It doesn't cost anything to have a look. That's what we thought. But in the end both of us left with a painting worth of Euro 10. Didn't we get warned about the artists.

We got out off the north gate as we left the city. Already there were more temples in front of us on a hill. Well, as we are here we can have a look as well. From up there we had a great view across the forbidden city. What a complex!

Now we went back to the hostel. We had our late lunch at the restaurant next door and then Nicole left for the airport to pick up Al. Meanwhile I took a lovely hot shower. My clothes I put in one of the 4 lockers. When my skin got soft and wrinkled I got out and wanted to get my clothes. And what now?! The locker didn't open. No matter what I tried, it wouldn't turn. I tried it softly and also with force, nothing. It was freezing cold. What should I do? Step into the floor
stripp naked and yell for help? Nobody understands here anyway. At some point somebody will eventually come and find me. And really. I asked the girl for help. She got a chambermaid but she wasn't any luckier than me. The lock wouldn't open. So everybody left again. What now? Should I stand here untill I freeze? I waited, an eternity it seemed to me. Nothing happened. Nicole and Al should be back soon. They
surely will find me. And then finally, the chambermaid came back with the concierge. Gripper out and open it was. Thank God!

Not long after my little adventure Nicole and Al got back. So everything went fine. Al was very tired and went to sleep. Nicole and me wanted to watch the acrobatic show in a theatre close to the hostel. As we got outside it had started to snow. How beautiful. Unfortunately it also meant that there was a huge chaos on the roads. All taxis were taken and as we finally got one, we were stuck in a traffic jam. The show started without us. We didn't even get further than 200m. We got out and went back to the hostel. Let's try again tomorrow. Instead we had dinner for three.

Inchon - Beijing

Gee, had we slept well on these bunks. And so long! We woke up only after 10.30am. We decided to see the Lama Temple in Beijing in the afternoon and go to the acrobatics show in the evening. But all ended differently. At 3.30pm we were still on the ferry. What happened to our neighbours? How do they look like? And why do they clean everything? Have we managed to miss leaving the ferry? Hurry up, get all our stuff and ran to the reception. Ooh, everybody was still here. Fortunately.

We got the entry stamp without any problems. Further to the health check? Further to where? Health check? What is that? What do they want to do with us now? Nothing bad, we had to hold our hand in front of a camera for three seconds. And like this the guy behind the bar will realize whether we are healthy or not?? We seem to be healthy as we were allowed to pass.

Firstly, we need to get Chinese Yuan. We hadn't done that in Korea. Are you surprised? Outside there were at least 10 men wanting to take us somewhere with a taxi. We decided for an English speaking guy and were lucky. He not only accepted our Korean Won but also helped to get our bus tickets to Beijing. The trip - whether by taxi or by bus - is a real adventure, a class of its own. Does one want to overtake someone else, one only needs to honk the horn. The other car will then make room. No matter, if on the right or the left side of the street. No one cares about that. In addition to that, there are many many cyclists, rickshaws and pedestrians on the street. No-one seems to stick to any rules. A true chaos. Paris in comparison is a paradise for drivers.

In Beijing, we again had been surrounded by a lot of taxi drivers. We chose one but another one interfered. They were argueing loudly and in the end we had to leave with the second one. We never found out what the argument had been about.

Luckily, in the Lonely Planet one can find names and places to stay in Chinese characters as well. This makes it easy to show the driver where to go. He took us to the International Hotel. Just around the corner the Hostel is supposed to be. We turned and another man was waggling a flyer in front of our nose. We saw the Youth Hostel sign and followed him - onto his rickshaw. The poor guy had to work really hard - the two of us and our heavy rucksacks! He took us to another hostel but we didn't care. It was late already. No need to mention that we again hadn't enough money to pay our accomodation. Therefore, the rickshaw man had to take me to a bank which would eventually accept my visa card.

On our way to the bank we tried to find the other Youth Hostel. The Youth Hostel sign had been already seen from far away. Nevertheless, we had to walk around the block twice and still hadn't found the entrance. We gave up and asked in a hotel. Now, everything was clear - the Youth Hostel does not exist any longer. Well, at least we had a nice evening walk.

Inchon - Tianjin (China)

Nicole went quickly to the post office before we left for the ferry terminal. We had to send some brochures and books home again. There better be a ferry today! We really want to go to China now!

Everything looked quite all right. There were a lot of people already boarding. Even a bunny sat at the counter. Two tickets to Tianjin please. Ok. We didn't believe it. There really was a ferry to China today. We gave her our passports and she issued the tickets for us. But what did she write on my ticket?! Ramona Deutsch?! Why that? She got it right with Nicole's name. Sorry, I cannot accept this. Please reissue. And what did she write this time?! Ramona Dab! What a bunny! Well, never mind. I can live with Dab. It's not the first time.

We were asked to board immediately. First luggage check and then passport check. I study English, I was greeted. Now, that was funny. He put his English book to the side and started asking me questions about the weather and so on. Nicole was already through the passport check and was wondering why it took so long for me, whether I had problems getting out of the country. And before I finally got my stamp, I had to call Nicole so the guy could also practise his English with her. And this at the passport check. He didn't even look at my documents.

On the ferry they showed us to our room. Wow, how great! Pallet beds in a big open room. In two stories with a curtain and a reading lamp. Just like in a submarine.

We went to the restaurant and had a deep look into our China books. Oh dear, there will be so much to see. We would need ages to do all that. Unfortunately, there was not much to do on the ferry. The cinema was closed, for whatever reason. Karaoke in Korean... and for gambling our money was too precious. So there was a lot of time for reading.

Inchon

9.15am at the ferry terminal. Why is everything still closed? The ferry is supposed to leave at 11am. At least we were not the only ones which means there should be a ferry today. At 10am the ticket office opened. But we were sent to the second floor. Second floor? We didn't even know that there's another floor so let's hope we are not too late now. I waited with the luggage whereas Ramona went upstairs. And as if we had known it - the ferry to Tianjin is only tomorrow. Today we could take the ferry to Weihai which would mean 16 hours in a train to Beijing. No way, we'll rather stay one more day in Inchon.
We had a look at the shopping districht Sinpodong. A so-called fashion street, one shop next to another. We did some window shopping but when we decided to go into one of the shops there was already a bunny standing next to us following each of our steps. That part of the town was quickly crossed. Now off to the underground shopping world. But what's going on here? Everything is closed. But it's Monday today! :(

We would have loved to sit in the sun and have a drink. But apparently this is impossible in this loud and dirty city. Or maybe there's a possibility? There is this Wolmido park next to the sea. We walked there but a beautiful place and this place are two different things. One says that tourists enjoy coming here. But why? A few restaurants, here and there a shop and a couple of attractions as at the parish fair. No, we do not need to stay here either. Thank God we can leave this place tomorrow.

Inchon

The night in the Internet-Cafe passed so quickly. Actually too fast. We haven't finished our typing yet. That means we'll have to work on it in China again! Damn, it's just so cheap here!

It was already 8am and we slowly had to think - or better quickly - of how to get to the harbour. We didn't even know where to go. The ferry to China will leave at 11am and we have no tickets yet. At the subway station one could at least tell us where to take the train to. To Inchon. Hmm, we thought we had already been in Inchon the whole night. It doesn't matter. Let's just get on the train. About 30 minutes later we arrived in Inchon. It's Sunday - tourist information closed. We just jumped into a taxi and wanted to go further. But the driver didn't want to understand us. A woman came to help - there are two terminals. Which one do you want to go to? How could we know? We want to go to China! And we don't have time! Move! But the driver was just so quiet, but still seemed nervous as he loudly chewed his gum. Move now, it's already 9.20am. Oops, what was that? There was a big sign "International Ferry Terminal" but apparently to no interest to the driver. We drew his attention to the next sign but he didn't want to know. He knows where to go. Well ... At Terminal 1 we learned that there is no ferry leaving on Sundays. To China? Well, in that case you'll have to go to Terminal 2. Of course, that was the one which we had passed blustering. At least the taxi driver was kind enough not to charge us for the second drive. At Terminal 2 same game. We didn't even get off the car. Today no ferry to China. Only tomorrow. It cannot be true. Lonely Planet says, on Internet it says ... well, it doesn't matter ... we'll have to stay overnight. The driver even took us to a motel - very close to Terminal 2 - without charging us anything. Really nice. If he had heard how we fulminated about him ...

What to do with the rest of the day? Sleep? No, then we won't sleep at night. Let's see what Inchon has to offer. We didn't get far though - we spent half of the day in a shopping mall ... and bought a pair of jeans and a pair of shoes. Gosh, after 3,5 months we were really looking forward to wearing another trousers. And our hiking boots have also already suffered a lot.

Well, the final bit of the day we spent again in an Internet-Cafe. But now we made it! Finally. We are up to date again. This was really a tough job!

Sokcho - Inchon

It was already 11.30am when we woke up. What a good night! But outch, what's that? My (Nicole's) thighs, my calfs, ... ouch, everything just hurts ... just don't move. Gosh, the trip yesterday had really been tough. Outch ... even the shoulder muscles are sore. That cannot be true. Well, it's good that we hadn't planned anything for today. On the contrary, relaxing in a hot spring. Doesn't that sound great?

We allowed us to go by taxi - yesterday we didn't save money with the taxi either - and drove to the Spa. At the entrance we got two small towels. OK, what are these for? Let's see what the others do with it. We were allowed to put our rucksacks at the entrance and just took our bath suit, bath towel and shampoo with us. Bath suit? Why a bath suit? Here, everybody is naked. Men and women are of course in different spas. Oh, it's quiet small here, only one room. Well, we thought to go to a kind of adventure bath but we were ever so wrong. Actually, it was only a place to wash yourself. The women did wash themselves so thoroughly (with the small towel -ah yes!) and as if they hadn't had a bath for weeks. Well, at home they don't have real showers or baths. That's why on Saturdays they all seem to go to a spa to wash themselves. For us it was rather relaxing and we lively jumped between the three bath tubs with super hot, warm and ice cold water. Gee, that was so good!

In the evening we took the bus to Inchon as tomorrow we want to take the ferry to China. We didn't even look for a hostel or anything as there are plenty of Internet-Cafes just at every corner. A good opportunity to type our reports for the websites. And cheaper than every other hostel as well.