Chengdu (China)
29th-2nd June - Kerry & Sally
Making our way from Lhasa to Ho Chi Minh City proved to be a bit tricky and due to a miscalculation of the date (since when did May have 31 days!), we ended up in Chengdu, China for 4 nights. China was full of surprises, we bumped into our British friends we met on the Tibet tour, sampled Spicy Sichuan cuisine, witnessed elaborate musical fountains, visited an ancient Village and saw some adorable Pandas.
Sichuan cuisine is said to be the best in China, with Harry and Katherine’s encouragement (plus a few of the local brew) we got daring and feasted on a Sichuan street buffet of BBQ skewers. Our bravado then got the better of us when we ventured to try ‘Hot Pot’. This delicacy features a communal pot on a gas cooker in the middle the table containing a broth complete with fish and chicken walkie talkies (heads and feet/tails). Let us not forget the complimentary pigeon, in it’s entirety, for which we were not altogether grateful.
Chengdu has a fantastic Panda Sanctuary and we decided to cycle the 8km to suss it out. The bikes barely came with brakes or pedals which made for a hairy journey through the city. Torrential rains and lack of a decent map resulted in a 3 hours soggy journey and we arrived dripping. (BTW Dad, your 1980’s Gortex jacket just isn’t waterproof anymore!) Clearly Panda’s enjoy the rain more than we did and luckily for us playtime was still in session. The cubs are extremely boisterous with one another only taking a break to munch on some bamboo.
In the ‘ancient’ village we saw the making of sugary sweets and were made to pose for a few more photo’s destined for Chinese mantle pieces.
Hong Kong Stopover2nd-3rd June
Hong Kong was a whirlwind stop but definitely didn’t disappoint. We only had 24 hours to try and cram in the sights and our awesome hosts, Ross and Charlotte, were ready to take us on a night tour of the views of the city when we arrived. Unfortunately a massive cloud on Victoria peak prevented us from seeing anything beyond our own noses but Ross ‘Boer maak ‘n plan’ Pienaar managed to scout out alternative view points where we were able to take in the amazing skyline.
We were treated to a fabulous Sushi dinner (thanks guys!), which was a welcome change from the Dhal Bhat and vegetable noodle soup of Nepal and Tibet. We also got to sample some Chinese desserts, one of these included Dorian fruit which has the most pungent smell. It is banned in certain establishments and requires separation of taste and smell senses in order to appreciate.
Hong Kong wouldn’t be Hong Kong without a spot of shopping... Between us we acquired a new camera, fresh stock of toiletries and the entire H&M summer collection. SE Asia here we come!
