To Vung Tau or not to Vung Tau...

...that really was the question. As we near the end of our month in Vietnam, the question on our minds is if it is worth heading to Vung Tau. This coastal city is a couple of hours from Saigon, our final destination. With a few days to spare we decided to head over to the domestic tourist hot spot to see what the hype was all about.

Sadly the place didnt live up to the "googled" hype. After making the short journey from Mui Ne on another local bus we arrive in what feels like a town that time forgot. For a city there is no one here. We counted about 10 western faces in three days. A proper vietnamese experience I hear you say? Well unfortunately the place was a bit dirty. The beach is pretty much non existent with large rocks and boulders blocking any sort of beach fun.

Our first hotel was something out of a horror film. The place was abandoned so the huge corridors and grounds gave off a very eery feel. Our room unfortunately already had someone in there. A family of cockroaches made the first nights sleep quite tense. I managed to capture three of them under glasses. But ran out after this, out came the flip flop! This coupled with the dirt in the room and the midgies, who absolutely loved feasted on my legs, made our stay in this hotel very short. In the morning I cut our stay short and checked us onto a better hotel that had a sister resort and pool we could use.

With the place being a bit of a domestic tourist hotspot the prices reflected that. Food seemed to be more but didnt reflect any increase in quality.

When it came to attractions there didnt seem to many. We took full advantgae of the pool which no one else used. We hit up a vietnamese cinema, making a change to UK prices, all in with popcorn 4 quid. Bargin.

Today we are on another local bus heading to Saigon Otherwise known as Ho Chi Mi City. I've heard good things. We are both looking forward to getting back on the backpacker trail before our adventure takes us into Cambodia.

Morning in Múi Ne

I am writing this post at the crack of dawn as we wait for our bus to take us from Múi Ne to the costal town of Vung Tau. My last three posts were all written on a bus, this bus however is slightly more "local"; no aircon, seats in the aisle and a driver that speaks no English. Lucky for us its much cooler today as we woke up to a thunder storm.

So how was Múi Ne? Its by far the quietest place we have visited in Vietnam. The place is built around a small fishing village and stretch of beach. The coast line has been littered with large resorts however none were full, with tourists being quite scarce in the town. There is not much to do here other than their half day tour of the town and local area. For five dollas we rented a jeep and drove around the town stopping off at the fairy river and waterfall, fishing  village and red and white sand dunes.

We walked up the fairy river bear foot all the way to the waterfall.  Not the best we've seen as we now see ourselves becoming waterfall snobs! Still the silt river gave the old flip flop feet a good scrub!

The red and white sand dunes were huge. Mountains of sand broke up the coastal lansdscape. They created epic views down the coast, casting shadows down the road. Quad bikes zipped through the dunes as people attempted to slide down on plastic sledges. The coloir of the dubes was a rich golden and firey red the grains so small it felt like silk under foot. Safe to say the selfie stick came out for this landscape!

The fishing village floats out in the bay. Hundreds of local fishing longboats line up with the days freshest catch. The waves were quite choppy here and the coast is a good place for wind surfing.

With the local fishing village supplying the village the restaurant's on the sea front cook up some of the best fish dishes ive ever had. The taste of their grilled fish on the sea front with a view down the beach is something else.

Great place to chill out in the sleep village Mui Ne cracking food a the Saigon beers seems to be getting cheaper the further south we head!

Nha Trang with a bang...

So if you have read the last two posts you will be pleased to know the smell of food has diffused in the air con now. I am still flat out on my back and my arms are starting to ache from holding this tablet above my head.

We have just left, what I believe to be the best place we have visited in Vietnam so far, Nha Trang. The beach here is amazing. It has the softest golden sand and stretches the length of the whole city. The sea is warm yet refreshing and offers a load of water sports.  We rented jet skis here and bombed across the sea, if only we had the go pro on this day.

We are staying in a cool little hostel recommended by some people we met in a bar. At 3 quid a night its great value, and has a great location just 5 mins walk from the sea front. Oh and did I mention it has a free breakfast!

The area is famous for its mud baths and mineral spars. Being the big lad I am, I just had to try this! We spent a day in the mud and mineral pools sitting in water that was 40 degrees plus! Hot in this weather. I tried to save some dignity by having a few beers but safe to safe this was a girls dream day out.

Back in the city there are a range of night and day markets selling anything from "hello kitty" toys to crocodile handbags. There is a host of restaurants and street food outlets on the sea front. I think I've had my best value for money meal here paying 5 quid for 6 courses including beer!

We have spent a few days lounging out on the beach after some decent nights out with people in our hostel. Some of the local bars offer 50p beers and stay open for as long as you drink!

The highlight of our time in Nha Trang was a day spent on Vinpearl island. You start by getting a cable car (The world's longest over water cable car!) from the beach across to this island. The island has a water park, theme park, aquirium and private beach. All this can be bought for 20 pound! The water park was great with loads of rides including a wave pool. Our favourite was the double dingy half pipe, our weight distribution meant we flew down this ride!  The theme park was good we went on one roller coaster that sounded like it was going to break when it turned you up side down, generally holding on for dear life! In the aquirium we were able to pet sharks before chilling on the beach to dry off after an exhausting day.

All in all a great place to stay, loads to do and a cracking beach. The Russians love this place too. Almost everyone there is Russian and shops and locals have even catered for this with Russian signs in all the shop windows.

Our next stop is Mui Ne; it is a small fishing village on the beach, we only have two more stops after that before we are in Saigon and off to Cambodia.

Oi oi Hoi An

If you have read the previous post on Hue, I'm still on the same sleeper bus on route to Mui Ne. Not much has changed I'm still lying horizontal but someone has opened some funky smelling food onboard. Joys.

So my last post ended with us heading to Hoi An. The day started by catching a ride from our hostel on the back of mopeds to our bus. The buses here are pretty glam as we squeeze in the back seats with a Vietnamese family, of which the girl took a real shinning to my feat and kept slapping them throughout the journey.

After a quick four hour trip we reach the traditional French town of Hoi An. It is much smaller than Han Noi and Hue so we get a real Vietnamese town feel, with small markets and shops littered between quaint french styled houses with a yellow pastel paint finish. Not a sky scrapper in sight!

We check into our Hostel here which is renound for its party atmosphere with a pool and late night bar. It reminds me of a cheap hotel in Zante but it's clean and cheap!

Hoi An is a fairly small town, so attraction wise there isn't a huge amount to do. The beach here is by far the best attraction,  just a short moped trip away is a huge strip of golden sand and hotel resorts. The beach is littered with palm trees and the sea is warm. Sipping a beer on the beach here catching the cool sea breeze gets me over the hangovers from the night before.

The restaraunts on the sea front are some of the best in the town. The prices are so cheap considering the views from the table. Here a meal put us back about 4 quid and you get some of the best fish I've ever eaten. We found out the spring rolls here rival the ones we fell in love with in Han Noi. 

Our nights out consist of hitting up the hostel bar, which is open fairly late considering the vietnam cerfue. After that we all head out on the back of taxi mopeds across town to the only club, Infinity Bar. Pretty chilled place, but it has Premier League Football on so it quickly became a regular stopping place.

The main attraction in Hoi An is the old town and the markets. Here the traditional Vietnamese goods are sold, from freshly caught fish to tailored silk dresses and suits. The markets are set up along the river which houses several Japenese bridges which clash brilliantly with the French styled streets and messy market stalls.

It's very hard to come here and not get a tailored suit or dress. The streets are littered with silk tailors who will produce anything you want and custom design and fit it to your desires. Sam bought a Maxi dress here for a bargin price.

We have met up with a lot of friends here from our trip down south so far, however we say goodbye to a group we have been travelling with since Han Noi as they head back to the UK.

Safe to say Hoi An is a small town with a traditional vibe and amazing beach. Our next stop is via the sleeper train to a place called Nha Trang. Stay tuned as I write the next post immediately after this one.

Hey Hue, how are you?

&So its been a while since I wrote a blog post. To be fair it's been pretty full on in Vietnam. On writing this I'm actually on a bus to our 5th place on the coast (Mui Ne). Safe to say we're having an epic time with a decent mix of picturesque beaches, cheap booze and hostel parties too cultural selfies and delicious street food.

So let me cast my mind back to Hue. With sore heads, I believe my alarm didn't go off, so we rushed out of our hostel after the Ha Long bay tour to catch our night train to the old Vietnamese capital, Hue.  The trains are grand with mini rooms compromising of 4 to 6 bunk beds. The journey is fairly pleasent although not knowing which is your stop adds to the excitment when your in a mad panic packing up your bags and legging it off the train.

We arrived in Hue to a sunny and sweltering welcome we didn't have accommodation booked so checked into a hostel on the strip near the bars and restaurants.  Room was decent although we managed to break the air con so a fan only room made for a few warm nights!

We had planned to spend three nights in Hue so got right on with the itinerary. We hit up the main attractions in the area. First is the centre point of the city, the Citidel.  This is the old city castle that housed royalty and protected the centre of the city from costal attack. The castle is huge circled by a moat of lillys.

Through the centre of Hue is a river called the Perfume River. We caught a dragon boat down here all afternoon sipping on beers as we took in the local scenery and temples dotted along the rivers edge. We managed to get a free picture off the family who run the boat and she even dressed us up in traditional Vietnamese silk, safe to say it's not my strongest look. She looked pretty pissed when I told her I didn't want to buy the complete wardrobe collection.

On our boat trip we stopped off at a 5 story pogoda and temple. Some cracking views here over the city and looking up the river. It was so hot here as the breeze had dropped.  But it was great to see the monks praying.

We also met up with a few of our friends that we met in Hanoi, the nightlife here consists of a few bars and a club so we got to know these places quite well. Food is great here being close to the sea, fish was all over the menu, but I'm getting into this now and have feasted on several local dishes including basa fish, crab, and even oysters.

Finally we hit up the beach which is a short moped drive away, not as good as some of the beaches we have done as I write this but it still has warm sea and white sand. Safe to say the tan is getting there, we finally are starting to look like proper backpackers, even if I did have to shave my beard off.

Next stop is the old French town of Hoi An...

Good morning Vietnam. Sam in Hanoi!

Ahhhh  vietnam, i love youuuu. 

We arrived in Vietnam on the 8th august, so 5 days ago. We have only been to Hanoi and Ha long bay so far and already it's my favourite country we've visited. I think coming from China where there isn't really a backpackers vibe and a huge cultural difference makes Vietnam a breath of fresh air, which is why we have fallen in love with it here so quickly. It's nice to have western toilets, fresh air and no spitting. The Vietnamese are lovely people and i love that they still wear their straw cone hats and carry their fruit on balance baskets (called a yoke). We did have one hiccup whilst in our taxi from the airport to our hostel. Our taxi driver was  pulled over whilst driving on the high way, a man dressed in what looked like a builders onesie asked the driver to get out and they disappeared somewhere behind us for about 20mins. Having been in the country only an hour and sitting in a taxi on the side of the road, with out the driver, we were safe to say 'scared for our lives'. Luckily this is apparently a routine check so the driver came back and we drove off. 

Hanoi is the capital and its a tiny city so you can walk everywhere. Tiny lanes filled with shops, restaurants and hotels surround a big lake. The lake is very picturesque with a cute bridge into the middle to get to a temple. 

We are staying in Hanoi backpackers hostel (down town), which is actually the central spot to begin the partying in Hanoi. Vietnam actually has an 11pm curfue so bars and clubs close at this time. But the hostel organise 'pub crawls' every night which basically means we move to the next open club once the bar closes. The chinese whisper is that the clubs pay the police to stay open after 11pm. The vibe in this hostel is very lively and it's pretty much just westerners (a lot of british) that stay here.

We arrived at the hostel from the airport in the evening and we decided to join the pub crawl. It's good to get involved straight away as we talked to so many other travellers giving us advice and ideas for our trip. 

The first day was spent exploring Hanoi and learning how to scooter dodge. Everyone travels by mopeds/scooters here so there are zillions on the tiny streets. I don't think they have a high way code so they'll weave in and out to get past people, fruit stands and cars. It can be scary if you make a bad move but the Vietnamese are very skilled in dodging people.

On our third night here we went quite big which wasnt planned as we had to be up at 6:30 the next morning. 4 new roomies from England moved into our dorm and we all decided to do the pub crawl. As we were at the hostel bar so early in the evening we took full advantage at being first in line for the free shots they do every hour. Cj got particularly drunk and couldn't keep quiet whilst we were eating street food at the end of the night. When the police drive past in their army trucks the street food restaurants turn off the lights so they look closed, trying to get Cj to be quiet was a challenge. Luckily he probably wasn't the loudest as there was a few westerners outside the club.

My alarm went off at 6:30 the next morning and i was up and ready to get breakfast at 7am. Cj felt rough (yes, he finally got a hangover) and lost a flip flop which was unlucky as we were going on a trip to Ha long bay and this is a boat party where flip flops were needed, Haha.

Ha long bay is one of the prettiest sights i have ever seen. The mythical story is that whilst Vietnam were being invaded the jade emperor sent a  dragon to Ha long bay to drop emeralds from the mother dragons mouth into the sea, the emeralds grew into mountains (a defence wall) which crashed all of the invaders ships and Vietnam won the war. There was 50 of us all together on the castaway trip which was 2 boats. We were all together for the day and night so we all got to know each other. The food provided by the boat owners was delicious and the kayaking around the bay was so fun. We rowed in and out of caves and the views of the bay were amazing (unfortunately we have no pictures as we were in the kayaks) 

The evening on the boat kicked off with a drinking game. It was a more active version of ring of fire. You basically pick a card, and that card means you have to do something, we all decided that card 8 was the worst as it meant stupid/sexy dancing on a chair in front of everyone until the next card 8 is picked. Cj was first to get this card and managed to pick it twice. There was a lot of swapping clothes, and lots of cards that meant drink. After the drinking game we all jumped over to the other boat for the disco. This was a good laugh and didn't end until about 4am. 

We returned to Hanoi the next afternoon and checked into a hotel which actually worked out the same price as the hostel dorms (sooo cheap). We decided to go for a hotel room as we were absolutely shattered and had about 5 hours sleep over the last 2 nights. We ended up sleeping through our alarm and woke up 20mins before check out. Gaahhh!!!

And now, i am on the top bunk of a 12 hour sleeper train on my way to Hue which is our next stop. We should arrive at 10:45am tomorrow morning.

Hanoi has been fun, but i think i want to see a bit more of Vietnam's culture, 

which Hue should offer as its a bit more relaxed then Hanoi.

Sam's Chinese experience

I have decided to write my post of China half way through our week (Wednesday 5th) as we are just chilling in the hostel tonight with no plans and i'm struggling to remember everything we've done. This post will not actually go live until we're in Vietnam as China blocks blogger and pretty every other non-Chinese website, so we cant actually reveal our experience until  our next destination. 

So, today we have hustled our way through millions of chinese people on Tiananmen square to get into the Forbidden City. Before we even got into the palace, China lived up to it's well known push and shove game, making our way through the crowds was a sweaty event in itself. My dignity was also slightly lowered as i entered what looked like a cow holding barn- this is their public toilet. It was a large tent with lined up gated pens and holes in the ground. The chinese like to use them with the gates open for all to see them squating. The smell made pretty much all the westerners gag as they braved this toilet.

The Forbidden City is phenomenal. It puts Buckingham Palace to shame as its huge and the acrchitecture is so pretty. This wasn't my favourite  palace, on our first day we visited the Summer Palace which i loved. It was like a little town inside the gates with shops along the river. We climbed to the top of the mountain to see the main temple.

 

We have also been to Beijing Zoo which was interesting. The way they keep their animals is not that nice but they have literally every animal to see here. The pandas were cool, seeing them was the main reason to visit the zoo. We felt like zoo animals here too as we had to pose with the chinese for so many photos. 

The Panjiayuan flea market is really cool but the hardest place to haggle. the stalls (there were hundreds) were selling their jewellery and gem stones for £50, so haggling that price would have taken hours. They weigh the jewellery and stones so we think its some type of special rock, its definitely  not rare though as every stall was selling the same stones. We saw some sights at the Wangfujing night market, lizards and live bugs on sticks. This had the funkiest smell too. 

Hutons are fun and cute, they are like the Brighton lanes and back streets of London. We went to quite a commercial one called Nanluoguxiang so it was quite Western but still traditional at the same time. We went here with a friend we made at the hostel and she bought octupus for lunch. I was going to try a bit until i heard the hugest burp next to me, it was Cj trying hard not to puke up the octopus he just tried. That was enough to put me off.

The best thing i have done in China is the Great Wall. It was mind blowing seeing one of the 7 man made wonders of the world. We went to the less touristy part called Mutainyu here you can walk to the the un-restored part. Before we even got on to the wall we had to climb zillions of steps to the top of the mountain. We opted out of getting the rip off cable cars to the top. This day started off with the typical 'male' mistake by Cj. The hostel told us it was going to rain so i packed my mac and even reminded Cj to pack his, of course men being men he said he wouldn't need it and as soon as we get off the coach to climb the mountain is pours with rain. So a wet Cj walked the wall. Luckily, the rain was quite refreshing as it was hard work with all the climbing so it would have been horrible in the humidity that China has. The tour we went on offered a lunch at the end which was delicious. 

China has had an interesting effect on me. I have learnt the art of spit dodging and am used to seeing male guts on a daily basis. The chinese here are not that rude and are quite nice apart from the pushing, but i put that down to the sheer volume of people as i am shocked at how many people there are here. I am most surprised about their lack of image as everybody here (even the more wealthy) spit with a loud wretching sound to go with it. This is particularly disgusting  when they are doing this in restaurants and spitting on the floor next to you. The men walk around with their wife beaters rolled up to their man boobs and they do not work out so its the most beautiful sight in the morning:/.  the children don't wear nappies either. So yes, that means they do all their business on the street. We witnessed this in the Forbidden Palace. Of course, this probably only exists in certain parts of Beijing as the poverty here is quite high. The famous smog was also really noticeable to begin with, you get used to it but it does feel like smoking the equivalent of 21 cigarettes a day, as apparently thats how bad it is. 

I'm going to round this post up now as we have just met our new roomies who are 2 Crazy American girls, we'll be going down to the hostel bar. 

Cj's Chinese Take Away

So this is Cj's Chinese takeaway filled my take on our short, sweet (and sour) stay in Beijing, China transforming capital.

Courtsey of East China Airlines we sampled our first taste of Chinese culture.  Sushi, duck and all the soy sauce you could possibly want at 30,000ft were on the menu. All fun a games with chop sticks and the added side dish of turbulance. 

As we began our decent I noticed what I thought were clouds, were in fact thick layers of smog. As we waved goodbye to the sun we touched down in Beijing to what is a humid, polluted city with all but a whisper of a breeze. Safe to say I was getting my sweat on when we checked into our hostel in Sanlutin. The hostel is decent, loads of backpackers there with a decent sized bar and pool table.

So what was on the menu in china:

101. Tiananmen Square
Contraversual dish usually served cold. Nice big square. However is absolutely rammed with tourists. Heavy military presence incase the protests of 1989 kick off again I guess. Great views of the Forbidden Palace.

102. Forbidden Palace
Huge set of palaces and museums that housed the Chinese Empirors of yesteryear. Intricate and detailed art work of dragons on the many gates within the palace. Could easily get lost in here for a day by looking over the hundreds of artifacts that fill the museums in the palace. Best to book a table ahead.

103. Temple of Heaven
Set in some beautiful grounds this square based temple houses a circular roof where people would come to pray for a good harvest. Similar art work and engravings to that of the Forbidden Palace. Worth a taste but be prepared for large portions if the gods here your prays.

104. Nanuluoguxiand Hutang
These are the equivalent of the backstreets of many a city. Laced with traditional shops and tea houses this is the traditional Beijing backstreet that escapes the commercial westernised grip on the city. However there was still a Starbucks on this one! Great for strolling and browsing locals shops. I tried spicy squid down here, bit chewy, not one I'll be ordering again.

105. Great Wall of China
The signiture dish and chefs speciality all rolled into one. This was by far my favourite day on the trip. We trecked around 10k along the wall in what was our wettest day. Bit of a blessing considering the amount of steps we took that day. Ample photo opportunities and some great views across the mountainous landscape. Was great to breath a bit of fresh(er) air too.

106. Beijing Zoo
Not for vegitarians or animals lovers for that fact. A host of animals here including the famous Panda. Great to see so many animals from all over the world,  however the conditions arn't the best. Cages can be small and I'm not sure how the polar bears were dealing with the Beijing heat...

107. Summer Palace
By far the best palace/temple we saw in Beijing. The summer palace is a series of temples built up a large hill.  All are neatly decorated with cracking views across the smog ridden capital city. The summer palace is located in huge green grounds with a lake that connects it to the heart of the city.

108. Dashanzi 789 Art District
Contemporary dining here, reminded me of Shoreditch in its style and location. Housed in a disused factory setting, are hundreds of Beijings modern art galleries showcasing everything from paintings to sculptures and boutiques. Worth a visit as it's pretty much a free day. Did have to get the local bus here which is an experience trying to translate the stops at a double quick pace.

109. Panjiayan Antique Market
Bit like a buffet this. Beijings bigggest flea market is a good place to try your haggling skills, although these are some of the hardest vendors I've ever delt with. The place literally sells anything from knock off Ming vases to a host of braclets that cost a fortune.

110. Silk Market
Cheap as chips down in the silk market.  It wouldn't be a trip to China without sampling some it's counterfit markets. This building is rammed full of fakes from Luis Vantan hand bags to Armanyi wallets.  Worth a stroll through and with some of the fakes looking pretty real it's worth a haggle.

111. Wangfujing Night Market
A trip down Beijings "Oxford Street" brings to one of the best night markets in the city. Here the word "food" is used loosely. You can get any sort of animal on a stick here. We saw anything from lizards to live bugs, bats, and various giblets of farm yard animals. Worth trying a toe or an eyeball although the "brain" on a stick might be pushing it.

112. Acrobat Show
A bit of after dinner entertainment here. A trip to the local theatre to see a range of classical Chinese acrobatic moves. Some pretty crazy stuff from diabolo guggling to a lady that could put her legs in any position imaginable!  Some of the group stunts were spectacular with the Chinese men stunting off poles and bikes!

113. Peking Duck
Finally an item actually about food. Great tasting speciality in Beijing.  Totally different to the duck wraps we have here. Not shredded and wood roasted gave it a great taste. Safe to say i ate a whole duck to myself.

114. Beijing Olympic Park
Great to taste the modernisation of the landscape of Beijing. Nothing screams modern architecture more so than the Olympic Park.  The birds nest stadium is a great dot on the skyline and you can even swim for free in the Olympic pool. Good to see that the legacy is still living on, even if it seems a little like a tourist trap.

115. Sanlutin Bar Street
Now the foods out the way bring on the drinks. There are a  few decent bars around the hostel which means there's a good choice of cheap drinks available after a hard day exploring the city on your feet.

All in all a great city, a few pet hates around the amount of people, the spitting, dirt and pollution but overall a great city with a contraversial history. Glad to have my phone working again, stay tuned as we begin out month long treck in Vietnam.

Cj

Hostel from Hell (Narita)

(This story should have been posted whilst we were in Japan but with our flight to China and this country not allowing access to most  websites it has been delayed)

Imagine an American phyco thriller film set in the outback where people are a rare sighting, the buildings around look like military bunkers and the atmosphere is eery. All we could think about was the horror film 'the outback', which is about backpackers travelling too far into the middle of no where in outback Australia. They ran into a phyco killer and that's basically the film, it's shit but we related to this film a lot whilst on our 42 hour stay in Narita.

So, once we arrived back in Tokyo from Kyoto on our amazing night bus we then had the joys of navugating ourselves to Narita airport. We weren't getting a flight but our only directions to our next hostel were from the airport. (It was in the middle of no where so we didn't want to risk finding our way there on our own accord). From the airport we had to get the local shuttle bus (we are amazed we managed to figure this out) and it drove into the Japanese countryside and eventually stopped outside a 7/11 shop - all we knew was that we had to get off at a 7/11. All that was here was that, a police station, a fire station, a gas station, a laundrette and a hair dresses. The buildings were all metal bunkers that looked neglegted.  It was a strange place. Then we arrived outside our hostel...

This too was a metal bunker that looked like it could fall apart. We stepped into the front door and couldn't see anybody but a man hanging up washing on the decking through the lounge (this makes it sound plush but the doors to the decking were a series of dirty windows and is was covered with a mosquito net) we said hello and recieved an odd responce so we just waited until he finished his washing. 15 mins later he decided to acknowledge us but he was very cold, he then walked off and left us in the living room wondering what the hell is going on (turns out he's the owner and lives there too). The time hit 4pm and we were eventually invited up the stairs (which are outdoors) to our dorm room. Sam thought it was okay but Cj wasn't a fan of the bed being on the floor, so much so, after 5 mins he had accidently put his foot through the paper door. Now we are proper shit scared of the hostel owner.

We wanted to get out of that hostel fast before we pissed him off even more so we explored the local area in search of food. We learnt somethings;
1. Every bunker that looks like a r restaurant is in fact a laundrette
2. When you do eventually find a restaurant it is empty with only a few locals (good atmosphere though)
3. Do not end dinner past 8pm,  we ended up walking back to our hostel in the dark in the small eery town and we didn't have a clue where we were going
4. Always have a torch on you

Eventually we made it to our hostel, only to find that the owner had disappeared somewhere and all the lights were off. We were a little on edge when we sorted our bed out and kept seeing lights outside. It was a long night but we made it to the morning ready for our bike ride round the village.

We are now in Beijing and have a host of photos to add. Watch out for Cj's post on the Chinese, highly entertaining. .