I left my heart (and my camera) in Tiger Leaping Gorge...

Well, I finally have time and energy to write another update. Miraculously the computers in Kunming have better connections and are not as strictly censored. However, given that it has been so long since I last wrote, this is going to be a super quick overview of the last few weeks.

After Shanghai, the so-called "Whore of the Orient", we headed to Hong Kong. Although the British wouldn't like it, I think that title should belong to Hong Kong as on the surface everything seemed shady and a bit cheesy. The city itself is divided into two sides... beautiful and shining Hong Kong island and the "wrong side of the tracks", Kowloon. Of course, given our limited budget we ended up in Kowloon in an apartment building/fire trap/tenement that housed Hong Kong's new-immigrant population. The up-side to this arrangement was the fantastic variety of Indian food being sold on the ground floor. The down-side was that the difference between the opulence of Hong Kong island and the utter squalor of Kowloon was very evident and left a bad taste in my mouth.

Getting to Hong Kong was interesting as it still seems to be in limbo, a part of China in name only. We had to go through immigration leaving "China" and get our passports stamped upon entering "the other China"... Very strange! I think people in Hong Kong consider themselves more from Hong Kong than from China. Kind of like asking Celine Dion where she's from, why Quebec of course! From the moment we stepped off the train I got the feeling that we were in a place that was very different from the mainland. Everything was in English and the curious mannerisms of mainland Chinese (ie. spitting, pushing) were conspicuously absent.

After Hong Kong we endured a harrowing trip on a night bus en route to a smaller city called Yangshuo. The bus was something else! I think it was the closest I will ever come to breaking the sound barrier. We arrived in one piece and spent a few days biking around amongst the limestone rock formations and farmland surrounding the city. Things went very well until it began to rain and continued to do so for the rest of our time in Yangshou and Guilin.

From Guilin we traveled to Kunming, a large city in the province closest to Tibet, Myanmar and Vietnam. My favourite thing about this area is the huge blue skies we have been getting everyday... It has been a LONG time since I saw clear blue sky in China. The sun and fresh air improved my mood and helped get that horrible musty smell out of my clothes that had been wet for so long.

After a night in Kunming we took yet another night bus to a smaller town called Lijiang. This area is becoming more popular with tourists as the years go by, but the small town charm, old streets and friendly people were refreshing. In Lijiang we wandered around the old town with streets lined with old buildings and filled with women dressed in traditional outfits of the Naxi people. We also made a small detour to the fabulous Tiger Leaping Gorge. I think the 6 hour hike was the highlight of my trip in China so far. We walked on a narrow trail running along the wall of the gorge and took in some spectacular scenery. The hike was long and a bit arduous but by the time we reached the half-way point, where we stayed for the night, we were all rather proud of ourselves. Staying overnight at a small guesthouse with amazing views of the mountains was a good reward!

As we had limited time, we opted out of the last half of the hike and took the easy way down and back to Lijiang. I'm lucky there was an easy way down as I, in a uniquely "Alex" move, managed to leave my camera at the half-way point. This meant that Amy and I made the 6 hour bus ride not once, but TWICE in the same number of days. Oy! Anyway, it all turned out OK and I am now being EXTRA careful with my stuff.

Back in Kunming now and all there is to do is hang out, play pool, Foosball and ping pong and wait for our Vietnamese visas to come through. We aim to leave China on December 8th to embark on our month long trip in Vietnam. I'm looking forward to a change of scenery and maybe some warmer weather.