Shanghai & the train to Lhasa, Tibet
On Sep. 28th we set off from Wuhu at 8am on the bus to Shanghai where we would catch the train to Lhasa. The bus was just as delightful a ride as it was on my first day & this time, I even got shushed by an old biddy in front. I wasn't actually being loud, simply speaking English! Even better was the fact that Habby & I watched two carts pass by the window; the first, was loaded with animal carcusses - greeeeaaat - the next was piled as high as the coach with cages full of pigs which weren't entirely sure if they were dead or alive - niiiice!
We were in Shanghai for 5 hours & decided to go to the old town - Yuyuan - which really, is now just a tourist hot spot. However, I was not complaining as I saw my first Starbucks in a month. And what a happy site it was! I had my first coissant & chocolate muffin in far too long. It was a good day!
I did like Shanghai, it's safe to say that I will be going back in a few weeks when I need a chocolate muffin, some decent shops & a dose of modern, Western style normality, but I did feel it lacked something which I can't quite put my finger on it. I think it felt, maybe, a bit soleless, like perhaps becaause it was striving to be so modern that it had forgotten that actually, had they retained some of the older style architecture & way of life that they would have given the city more character. But like I said, it was modern & we weren't stared at so I wasn't complaining!
We then went souvenir shopping round the little shops & soon we were on the train to Lhasa.
The train itself was actually very comfortable, if not a little cramped. We decided to travel hard sleeper (brave, I know) which means 6 bunks no door & to a cabin. But it was ok; Andy, Habby & I were in one cabin with Patrick next door (which he was happy about as he could more easily practice his already reasonably good Chinese).
This is my bunk - which was the top one of 3. They decided that as I was the smallest, it was a good idea for me to have to clamber up there. However, one problem with that is that I couldn't reach the little steps down the wall of the cabin to get down as my legs weren't long enough! I ended up simply having to jump down.
We shared our cabin with 3 Chinese men, one of which decided to impersonate a fog horn during the wee hours of the morning. Now, I have heard snoring, but this! This was like sleeping in Euston Station! I tried everything short of hitting him with a pillow to get him to be quiet (he was in the bunk across from me) & in the end, sat & read in the corridore for 2 hours in the middle of the night. I was not impressed. What made it worse, was due to my lack of sleep that night, I decided to take a nap that afternoon... & geuss what! So did he! It was slow & horrible torture as the snoring began again.
This is also the same man who had the ordacity to then impersonate everything I said the next morning. For example, Andy tried to take a photo of me after not being able to take a shower for 2 days on the train (the worst bit of the whole trip for me - man I felt grimey!!) & I went, 'No Andy!' & so the man goes, 'No Andy!' I just glared at him as he wasn't allowing me to sleep & now this... he was seriously asking for a lamping.
We spent a lot of time in the dining car as there were bigger windows & so you had a better view, however, cabin fever set in after 1 day & playing cards solidly for about 3 hours.
The views were really quite impressive once we were into Tibet on the second day. There were snow capped mountains & barron rolling hills on the other side of the train which was quite biazzare. We passed a lot of yaks & sheep & the odd wild horse. There were many many yaks in Tibet along with the odd random person just walking though where they could possibly be going or coming from is beyond me - there was nothing there! Apart from yaks & sheep of course, but I highly doubt they are good company.
We finally pulled into Tibet station at 9pm on Sep. 30th. The cool air of Tibet was very refreshing, espeially after Wuhu!
Lhasa, Tibet
We were all quite excited in the cab from the station to Hotel Ding Feng. Our guide, Jimmy, greeted us with traditional white scarves, symbolizing purity, cleanlyness & happyness. Habby & I shared a room, as did Patrick & Andy, however, the window in our room actually looked into the corridore thus our curtains stayed shut at all times for fear of prying eyes! The hotel was very clean (apart from the suspect wet patch in the corner when we first arrived) & it was a relief to have room & be able to unpack!
Habby suffered from headaches throughout our stay in Lhasa which was a shame although common at such high altitude - over 3680m. What made me laugh though on multiple occasions was that she could not remember the word 'altitude' & came out with various other malapropisms such as 'it's the infatuation that's causing me to feel so crap!' which was by far the funniest. Andy also complained of headaches... though they somehow didn't seem to affect his ability to power forward & not let Habby & I meander through the market...
On our first full day, we went to the Dalai Lama's home, the Potala Palace. It was very impressive from the outside, as you can see, but actually, when you get up close, it's in need of a lick of paint & some TLC!There were over 300 steps to climb but luckily my asthma was fine, despite the thin air.
Inside the Potala was interesting but not exactly awe inspiring as had been suggested. The use of colour is vivid which is lovely but other than the previous Dalai Lama's tombs which are simply massive, 30ft plus each and solid gold through & through, nothing was really that amazing.
That afternoon, we went to Jokhang Temple in the centre of the old town - the Barkhor. Again, this was interesting but nothing special I didn't think. One freaky thing, however, was that the
main statue of Buddha in Jokhang is known as baba (father in Chinese, grandfather in Indian). When we were in front of baba, Habby's nose began to bleed & wouldn't stop. Jimmy got very excited as he said that baba used to paint using blood from his nose & so he had blessed Habby. Habby was a bit freaked out to say the least but, assuming you believe Jimmy's tale & not that it was just a reaction to the high altitude, it was interesting he 'chose' Habby as she is Sikh & the Tibetan culture is a real mix between Chinese & Indian which is very clear & quite interesting to see how they gel.
main statue of Buddha in Jokhang is known as baba (father in Chinese, grandfather in Indian). When we were in front of baba, Habby's nose began to bleed & wouldn't stop. Jimmy got very excited as he said that baba used to paint using blood from his nose & so he had blessed Habby. Habby was a bit freaked out to say the least but, assuming you believe Jimmy's tale & not that it was just a reaction to the high altitude, it was interesting he 'chose' Habby as she is Sikh & the Tibetan culture is a real mix between Chinese & Indian which is very clear & quite interesting to see how they gel. This is the view of Jokhang Temple when standing on the roof.
In all the sacred places we visited in Tibet, there was an overwhelming smell which would engulf you as you walked in. In great dishes in front of every avatar, they would burn wicks in yak butter which gave off the pungent stentch... I wasn't really a fan it must be said!
A market surrounded the temple called the Barkhor which you must walk around keeping the temple to your right as a sign of respect. This became a pain if you wanted to go back to a stall you had seen; you had to walk around the whole place again & it was reasonably big!
That night, we went to a Tibetan restaurant & tried the local dishes; yak. I was very good & tried everything (I know, don't fall off your chair now!) & it actually wasn't too bad, just like a bland beef. Some of the dishes had nasty coatings on them but that couldn't really be helped. Andy had ordered barely something-or-other for us to try which was like chewing cardboard & butter tea was truely vile as well. But at least I tried it all!
On our second day, we visited the Drepung Monastrey which is the largest in Tibet. I turned the prayer wheels on the way up to bless my friends & family - let me know if it worked! Again, it was interesting but after a while, all the rooms began to look the same as all the Buddha avatars look similar & the yak butter burning became quite oppressive. My favourite room at Drepung was actually quite lacking in colour (unlike the rest of it) as it had black walls but with images outlined onto it in golden paint. It was really delicate & so understated that I thought they were by far the prettiest thing we'd seen!
We also went into the General Assembly Hall at Drepung which was a reasonably large hall with little shrines leading off it. In one, women were not allowed in as Tibetan Buddhism believes that they may be harbouring evil spirits & therefore may corrupt the monks or make it 'un pure'. Andy & Patrick went in, however & told us that there was a monk inside chanting sutras whilst texting on his mobile. This made us laugh. On the other side was an ornate & intricately decourated 'cupboard' style thing which stretched the width of the room. Inside was a sacred painting which they only brought out during special festivals. Reena, our guide that day, told us that if we walked underneath it, we would be blessed... so we did! So far, don't feel any different & it's been just over a week... feel a bit conned. Here, we were told to sit on the mats in the centre of the room (of which there were many) & suddenly monks began to spill through the main door in time for the General Assembly. We then watched them chanting & rocking for about 20 minutes though we felt a bit awkward & out of place. A few monks, however, looked like they were having a gossip than fulfilling their holy duties as they kept turning around, looking at us & then turning back and whispering! It's good to know that Buddha's work is in such committed & capable hands...
For lunch that day, we went to a famous restaurant in the Barkhor & sat a roof terrace which was very pleasant. However, the true greatness came with the menu when Habby & I saw 'Club Sandwich' on the menu. Keeping in mind, China don't seem to understand sandwiches, we were very excited & despite the guilt, bit into a very large & very taisty Club. Damn was it worth it!
We then went on to Sera Monastry, quite a bit smaller than Drepung
but I actually prefered it. There was an interesting scroll room in which they wrote, copied & printed sacred scripts & also the Debating monk's courtyard. Here, monks would debate philosophical ideas & theories all day. It was fasinating to watch, even though we had no idea what they were saying! To reiterate their point they would viciously clap their hands or thrash their rosemary beeds; was all very noisy & active!
but I actually prefered it. There was an interesting scroll room in which they wrote, copied & printed sacred scripts & also the Debating monk's courtyard. Here, monks would debate philosophical ideas & theories all day. It was fasinating to watch, even though we had no idea what they were saying! To reiterate their point they would viciously clap their hands or thrash their rosemary beeds; was all very noisy & active!Everyone laughed at me as I managed to get sunburned in Tibet. It was quite a bizarre line as well as I had a bag & sweater strap which was great. Not.
I did like Tibet & I was glad I went as I doubt in a few years it will ever be the same as he Chinese are quickly killing the traditional Tibetan culture which is a real shame as sitting back & just watching it unfold before your eyes was actually one of the best bits of the trip; just people & culture watching!
Xi'an
After yet another 2 day train journey which was equally dull, we finally reached Xi'an. I was far more excited about this than Tibet in a way as I have wanted to see the Terracotta Warriors since I learnt about them in history when I was 10 years old.
We were greeted at Xi'an station by our guide and taken to Motel 168. It was lovely to see such a modern & clean & Western looking hotel both inside & out. Our only complaint was that there was a floor length window looking in from the bedroom into the shower... we felt this was a bit bizarre!
Andy, Habby & I went to Pizza Hut for a Western meal - happy days - but we were then interupted by a Motel 168 lady. We felt this was a bit odd as for a start, how did she know we were there, but it turned out our guide had taken us to the wrong branch of the hotel... and so the disaster began...
When we were taken to the new hotel - after our dinner - we had a smaller room (the chairs were jammed up against the bed side) but there was no window into the shower which was good, though there were plants in the shower in which, Habby was sure there was a camera. As in Lhasa, we had the nightly phone call to the room from the hookers. habby got sick of them ringing & started asking them how much; they were so shocked by an English speaker that they hurridly replied, 'ah! No English!' & slammed the phone down! This amused us.
We went to see the Terracotta Warriors
on our first day in Xi'an & I was so excited. There are 3 pits; the 1st being the photo which is by far the biggest. The 2nd is reasonably impressive, however, most of the pit is still in tact as the building the warriors were burried in & so you can't actually see many warriors in it which is a shame although it's still quite cool. Pit 3 is the smallest & has come under the most damage as the roof of the building caved in over the years. Pit 1 is deffinately the most impressive however due to the sheer amount of warriors they have been able to uncover. They say there are possibly another 6000 yet to be found as well!The only complaint I had from the day was the vast anount of people that were there. We arrived just after 9am & by the time we left around 1pm, there were just hoards of people swarming towards the exhibition!
There was a really nice market in Xi'an as well where I bought loads of souvenirs... seriously spent so much yuan that week! - Habby & I got lost in the little market streets, neon lights & 'lookie, lookie, just lookie!' calls. Was a really nice evening.
However, when we reached the hotel again, our card keys didn't work so Patrick kindly took them downstairs & sorted it out for us. once we got into the room, it was found that Habby's suitcase was in a state of dissaray & had been rooted through, probably by the cleaning staff & half her fags were gone. It was dead lucky there was a lock on my bag as my passport & iPod were inside it! Nothing was stolen rfom Habby - other than her fake Marlboro Lights whch she wasn't that keen on anyways - which was very lucky; she'd had anything of value in her handbag.
Later that night, Habby & I were writing in our travel journals about the day when the phone rings. Assuming it would be another hooker, Habby tells me to take this one. So I answer the phone & the lady goes, "hello, Amie?" I found this rather freaky & after a long silence after she wouldn't tell me who she was, she tells me, "you owe us money." Well if I wasn't worried before I certainly was now! I had images of Chinese gang masters coming & dragging me away in the dead of night never to be seen again. After a long & very confusing discussion that consisted of, "who is this!?" "you owe us money" "ok, but who are you..." silence... "hello? I'm sorry but who is this!" "you owe us money..." (we weren't getting anywhere fast) the phone clicked off. We went down to the front desk & asked if a call had been made, "oh yes!" the receptionist replied, "that was me!" The confusion grows...
According to her, we owed the hotel 200 yuan for some reason & if we didn't pay we would be chucked out. Keep in mind, it was now gone midnight so we were not best pleased by all this. We went & found Patrick & And (who had fallen asleep and therefore didn't really appreciate our rapping on the door) to discuss the impending doom that seemed to lay before us; shell out or be chucked out. So we shelled out & Caroline assured us that the guide company would pay us back in full for the mistake, which they have now done.
The next day, we went to check out to find that our train tickets for the Xi'an to Wuhu stretch had not arrived yet thus adding to an already crappy stay in Xi'an. Patrick, again, kindly insisted on coming back to retrieve them at 3:30pm for us & we agreed to meet at the station at 5pm for our 5:45 train.
We then went & sat in Starbucks (again) for about 2 hours to wheil away the day in our last dose of civilization. Habby then receives a calls from Caroline saying, "you must go to the station now, your train leaves at 5pm!"Well, Patrick of course knew this as he had picked up the tickets, however, Andy had gone off for a strole & all our phones, other than Habby's had run out of credit.
Welcome to the genious phone system in China: you can't top your phone up outside of the city or province which it was bought in (we were outside both) & if you don't have credit, you not only cannot make calls, but you can't receive them either!
So you see our dillema; we had no way of telling Andy. Caroline luckily was able to top up our phones here in Wuhu & thus ring us all to let us know the deal. As you can see, Xi'an just felt like one problem after another & we have complained to the guide company & actually received compensation since we returned 'home'. Sadly, if we thought that our troubles stopped here, we were wrong.
Once on teh train, it turned out that Andy's ticket was a seated ticket, not a sleeper like mine & Habby's (who were in the same cabin) & Patrick's which also only went to Hefei - half way to Wuhu - & so needed extending as well. So all in all, was the perfect end to our perfect stay in Xi'an!
After all these shinanigans, Habby & I taught 2 kids to play snap in the carriage who then wouldn't stp playing - it would seem that kids world wide have the same obsession with this game!
The train wasn't as 'luxurious' as the other trains - if they were classed as 'luxurious' - as it was not geared for tourists but locals but it was fine in the end. Sadly, we were just happy to be back in Wuhu - despite being faced with those 12 flights of stairs again - & be able to flop & make a cup of tea.
It was a good week, I'm glad we went, but it's safe to say that there's no place like 'home'. .. if Wuhu is classed as home...
more photos can be seen at the following links:
enjoy!
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