Catching Up...

This will still have to be brief as I am pressed for time, but it should help clear some things up.

After the Opera I rested for another restless sleep and was up early. I was passed through the custody of a number of people as I was sent from a car through Chengdu, and then passed off to a bus driver to take me to Chongqing. I have resolved to take no more busses in China if at all possible.

In Chongqing my contact was late and I was snatched up by a bus driver. Half an hour and 30 Yuan later I was where I needed to be and with my Chongqing contact. She had everything prepared for me. I must say I was relieved to finally meet her since she had my ticked for the Yangtze Cruise.

I had some spare time, so I was able to wander through Chongqing and see what the world's largest city has to offer. I went to a huge mall/tourist attraction/thing called the cave, and I went into the main square downtown with a large monument. The monument was a clock tower, and the clocks... Rolex.

That night I was on the boat, and the boat was on its way down the Yangtze. Over the next few days I followed a simple pattern of try to sleep, go see some sight on land, chill on the boat, see another sight, and try to sleep. The sleeping was actually ok, except when my roomates got up at 3 am and cracked out the cigarettes. I guess they were not that bad, they did sit near the window.

The sights were quite amazing, but heavily restored. My biggest issue was finding out when we were going to see the sights and what time we were supposed to be back on the boat since I was one of the only few people who spoke english. Somehow it worked out, but I later realized that I had some Guardian Angels on this trip. My tour guide (who only spoke Chinese) was always checking if I was on board before we set sail, but she did it very stealthily. The throughout the whole trip my Travel Agent in Chongqing, Vienna, seemed to be keeping tabs on me.

After we landed on the cruise I was ushered onto the right bus to get to Yichang, and then when the bus arrived I was met by another contact who had my train ticked to Zhengzhou. Again I had time to kill, so I was able to walk around and see some of the gardens and squares in Yichang.

The train ride to Zhengzhou was uneventful, except that it was my first overnight train ride, which I thought was exciting, but other than that... It was interesting though when I was woken up at 3 in the morning by the train lady trying to explain something to me in Chinese. Eventually I figured out that it was time for me to get off. I did.

Off the train at around 4 am, I then took the time to book my next ticket, to Xi'an, which took a while because of the language barrier. Then at about 5:15 am I wend to McDonalds to kill some time. I met someone who had been on my Cruise and who spoke english. We waited till breakfast was served at 6 am and then ate.

After I found my hostel, then headed back to the bus station to catch the bus south to the Shaolin Temple. This seems like a relatively easy task, but I have an issue where I do not know where to get off. Some times I get off too early and then walk the rest on foot, which is what I was going to do this time but... I saw a sight I wanted to see, thought I could not be far and I hopped off of the bus. Well, the sight was beautiful. It was a Pagoda atop an enormous staircase, but the difficult part was that I was now in the town of Dengfeng, which was still 15 km from the Shaolin Temple... Oops.

I read the Lonely Planet to try and save me and it told me to take the number 8 bus. I did... and then when I reached the end of the line without getting where I was supposed to I talked to some chinese people. They laughed some, but in the end they showed me where the right stop was, and then someone even waited with me until another bus came (because it was not at a stop and I was trying to walk away, the lady kept me there till the bus came). So, I got off of the number 8 bus, and then when the next bus came I got on it. It was also a number 8. Evidently they were not the same. That one took me to the Temple.

It was also an amazing site, but largely restored. The Temple had been razed several times, so most of the wooden structures are rebuilt. The stone ones however are largely originals. I was able to see a Wushu demonstration, which was interesting, and then I tried to find my way home. Which was quite difficult, because the bus I wanted no one had heard of. Eventually an English speaking tour guide pointed me in the right direction.

Two busses later I was at the Hotel. Then I was at a local restaurant eating a local dish. Noodles, but not just regular noodles, like 3 different kinds of noodles in the same soup... yeah... most were normal noodles, but there were some very strange clear ones with the consistancy of jello though they were a little tougher. They were gross.

The next morning I was on a train to Xi'an, and luckily it was the last stop because otherwise I would not know where to get off. It is interesting being in a Tourist city again, and much easier for traveling. I found some travellers immediately who knew where my hostel was. They took me there. That night we went to the fountain and light show at the Large Goose Pagoda. I did not go in the water, but hopefully got some decent pictures. Afterwards we went to the Bar in our Hostel and I Sharked at Foosball until 2 am. It has been months since I have done that, and it was nice.

The following day I was off to see the Terra Cotta Army. On the bus there I met two girls from Quebec who I travelled with for the rest of the day. We say the Army, and then we went to see the Qin Mauseoleum. When we made it back to Xi'an we were tired but we kept going. We went to the Muslim Quarter for supper, and then down the the Large Goose Pagoda for the Fountain and Light Show. This time we all went into the Fountains. That was definately one of the most amusing experiences I have had here since I had a bucket of revenge dumped on my head.

We exchanged e-mails and parted ways.

Yesterday morning I was up and on the wall. I rented a bike and went around the entire thing. It was fun, and it was a nice ride, but it was a little much for me. I gave up biking last year, and on my ride around the wall I was able to remember why. Unfortunately, but the time I realized that my body might not have been up to the challenge, I was already at the North Gate, and thus the furthest point from where I rented the bike. I had no choice but to continue.

I hopped off the wall, rushed back to the hostel, and met with a Chinese Doctor. The acupunctured me... if one can say that... and it was nice. Compared to IMS (Intramuscularstimulation) it felt great. No pain in Chinese Acupuncture. Then he gave me a massage with some kind of oil that made me smell kind of like a well marinated steak. Hopefully it will help. I am going back for a second round today, I am supposed to do three, but I will not have time.

After the Doctor I had a busy day. Large Goose Pagoda. Shaanxi Museum of History. Xi'an Museum. Small Goose Pagoda. Bell Tower. Drum Tower. Muslim Quarter. Wow. Very busy, but good. And in the Muslim Quarter I had sooo much good food. Nothing like glass after glass of cheap prune juice and then lamb on a stick. Yum.

Another rough sleep, and then this morning. Today I will hit up Xi'an for the sights I missed yesterday, and I will go to the Doctor again. Tomorrow I will ascent Hua Shan, possibly with an Austrian Traveller, and spend a night atop the mountain. I will then watch sunrise from the East Peak.

Today... I still need to by a train ticket to get me out of this town, and I need to find a place to stay in Beijing, and I need to decide if I am going to Shanghai or not. Hmm... It is good that it always seems to work out for me, or all of this stuff could get me worried. A good thing...