We were now ready to join the Manta forces and take on a diving course, Dave’s intention was to do some basic pool skills and then a fun dive in the afternoon. Helen needed to do a refresher so we were together learning and remembering the skills needed to dive later on that day.

Our instructor Thomas was an ex school teacher from Germany living the dream on the Gili’s as a dive instructor. At around lunch time Dave was sucked into doing his Open Water, why not? Thomas had explained that he’d already done most of the skills in the pool…a good salesman but we both knew it would be well worth it. For the next few days Dave was fully on board with the diving and loving it!

Helen would mix in yoga and then diving and was equally enjoying being back to a zen place with the tropical fish below. Dave took to it like a pro and was coming up with around 60-70 bar of air after an hour of diving each time, he pretty much had one to one instruction the entire time which made the videos a little more bearable! Our last dive at Mirko’s Point was in our eyes the best, the coral was so colourful and mesmerising and we saw all kinds of fish, the list would be too long to write on here! Diving with Manta was an excellent experience for us, the prices are fair and with waters as warm as in the Gili’s it’s a really great place to start. Big up to Thomas too and congrats to Dave for now being a certified Open Water diver…WOOO!

For our last few days we enjoyed some more snorkeling, reading, chilling out and yoga along with frequent gatherings with our group of Gili Air friends. For us it was like having a one week holiday, we had loads of fun and could have easily stayed another week. After 7 nights our accommodation bill was around $140 with breakfast which at Chill Out Bar was again excellent. One thing we should mention is that the bungalows we rented were owned by Chill Out, they’re not the expensive air-con one’s but they have a lot of charm in their own right.

So after one week we were finally ready to leave, in fact we had to if we were to make our flight out the next day. We said our goodbyes to our lovely group of friends and were ready for the off. The prices with Ocean Star Express was again good (although they need to sort out their baggage situation), and at Padangbai our transfer to Legian was ready and waiting. We were packed into the front of a taxi van with little room to budge and it took around 90 minutes to reach Legian. We decided to stay in Legian mainly because of its location to the airport, and we didn’t want to stay in the heart of touristy Kuta. Once we’d realised that the Three Brother’s Inn was way above our budget we found the Sri Beach Inn, nothing really to recommend here but it was a cheap room for us to get our heads down for the night and the owner helped us out with a taxi pick up at 4am to get us to the airport.

On our last night in Bali we had a stroll along the busy and popular Legian Beach which was packed with surfers, holiday makers and umbrellas! We also found time for a 2 hour massage on JI Padma Utara pretty much opposite the Warung Yogya, where we enjoyed a recommended a foot reflexology and back massage for 150,000 rupees. It was fanastic, although the little paper undies that we had to wear didn’t too much for us other than to make us laugh!

We really enjoyed our time in Bali and think the main reason for this is that we didn’t follow the tourist trail too far into the wrong places. Obviously Ubud and the Gili’s attract tourists but just not as many as in the peak season and as in Kuta and a few of the other busier areas. Perhaps hitting it before peak season is the best time to go, lower rates, less people and it’s still pretty hot!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, Sony DSC-TX5, processed in Lightroom 3)

The first of January 2012! Happy New Year to all who read our blog, we really appreciate you! We didn’t start our new year with hangovers, nor did we go out the night before and party in busy Kaikoura. Instead we opted for a quiet start to 2012, we did enjoy a few drinks in the town including some generous free wine sampling, but decided to head back to our van to cosy up ready to see in the New Year together.

The main reason for us not going out and getting a little tipsy was that we had a 5.30am appointment with the Dusky Dolphins in the Pacific Ocean. Something we had pre-booked as we couldn’t get any other dates to do the swim and we wanted to fit it into our agenda before heading back to Christchurch. So up at 4.55am we were ready and willing by 5.20am at the Dolphin Encounter center located 5 minutes down the road. Checked in and grouped up we grabbed our wetsuits, flippers, hoods and snorkelling gear ready for a 20 minute video presentation of what to expect and a little bit of history on the area.

Kaikoura is on a rocky peninsula where the sea opens out to a deep canyon providing a rich  habitat for marine mammals and seabirds. The main reason for tourists to visit the area is to whale watch, and enjoy encountering albatross and dolphins amongst many other species. The town itself has lost any charm of being a quaint seaside village and has opened up to commercialisation in a big way with large pubs, a subway, supermarkets and eateries. Further down the main street towards the peninsula though it does still hold onto a more local feel and isn’t so condensed.

The Dolphin Encounter company have been operating tours in Kaikoura since 1989 and is ran by locals, they’re a friendly team, but it must be tough having to get up at 5am every day to run these tours. After our introduction we got a bus to the jetty located on the South Bay where 2 boats were ready to take us out to sea. There was quite a swell on the ocean waves and we had a bit of a bumpy journey heading out. After around 15-20 minutes we spotted our first group of dolphins but this was a small group so we continued further until there was a larger group for us to swim with. At the sound of the horn we all got into the chilly waters and swam out to the dolphins, it didn’t take long for us to have a few around us and so the silly noises began. We were encouraged to communicate and interact with the dolphins to keep them interested in us. They are really sociable creatures and so the more you play the longer they stay!

After the first swim we got back on the boat and found the main pod of dolphins, from this point on we enjoyed 2 further swims, with around 10-15 minutes in the water each time. It was a truly magical experience, they really are playful mammals and it’s really good fun being in the water with them. You can’t touch them or try to interfere but you can swim in circles with them and make eye contact. Unfortunately for Dave he suffered from some sea sickness which seemed to have a knock on effect on board.

When the swimming was over we were back on the boat and enjoyed watching the dolphins from the side of the boat. Here we could see them doing flips, jumps and a few were mating. We both loved the experience, even with Dave’s sick bucket accompanying him. Fortunately for Jess (our guide) she was used to coping with other people’s sea-sickness and was fully prepared.

We were out on the water for about an hour and a half with around 30-40 minutes in the water with the dolphins. Helen has had this experience before when she was here in 2009 and although the weather was better then, it was still a wonderful experience. She loved doing the encounter again. On the boat journey out and coming back we saw a lot of Albatross on the sea chilling out, taking off and flying. Some with a wing span of over 3.5m! We do feel that we have become a little geeky on the whole bird-watching front, but you don’t see this amount of marine life and seabirds every day so it was pretty exciting for us!

So this was the start to 2012 for us, swimming in the sea with the Dusky Dolphins…not bad! This is our last activity in New Zealand, and all of the adventurous, exhilarating things that we have done have been really worth while. (The Dolphin Encounter cost us each $170 NZD and there were roughly 12 people per boat)

After hot showers and some much needed food we were back in the van for her final long journey back to Christchurch. We were tired back at the South Brighton Holiday Park so we chilled out after an energetic spell on the trampoline and finished our evening with a walk along the beach to the New Brighton Pier, it was a beautiful evening.

Happy New Year Everybody!

Video and photos taken on a Sony DSC-TX5 underwater camera & an Olympus Pen with a 17mm f/2.8 pancake lens

This was to be 3 days of sheer relaxation and fun with Vic and Dave. Starting early we all piled into “Po” along with bedding, food, booze and games and set off for Picton. Dave G had arranged with his brother for a boat taxi to meet us at a pier east of Picton, so thanks to his brother’s boss we got a free taxi ride out to their bach in the Malborough Sounds. This would have cost $90 between us if we hadn’t had this ride! It took around 15 minutes in the speed boat to get to the Gillan bach house and we realised we would have passed the area the day before when we were on the ferry coming in. Dave’s brother was waiting for us at the jetty as he was then getting in the boat to go to work.

For the first part of the day we just chilled out, sat around the decking area, chatting, drinking tea, eating lunch and reading. The boys rigged up the fishing rods and the girls had a good catch up. We went out in their fishing boat for a few hours in the late afternoon, early evening with each of us having our own rod. This was Helen’s first stint at fishing and it was pretty unsuccessful, but for Dave G he got a trout and another mean looking fish. The trout went back in the sea and we kept the bigger fish for dinner later on. Vic and Dave R caught some spotties whilst Dave G kept on bringing in the fish, they were all small so we had to put them back in the sea. It was a lovely day weather wise and it was fun being out in the boat.

Back at the bach Dave G got the barbecue sizzling and we opened the wine. We enjoyed a fishy dinner, more wine and more of Vic’s birthday cake. It was a very funny evening indeed ending in part 1 of Cranium taking place.

The next day was equally as relaxing and hot. So after a lazy start we enjoyed more tea, more chat and a dive off the jetty into the freezing waters of the Malborough Sounds. We couldn’t quite manage the full swim out to the buoy but it was refreshing enough for us to spend a little while in the water before getting out. Back on deck we enjoyed lunch, relaxation and reading.

Later on we went out in the boat again and this time round Helen did catch some fish, she managed to get about 4 whilst Dave caught about 7, Vic 3 and Dave G got quite a few too. We weren’t counting but we caught a lot of spotties and as they are so small we just let them back into the sea again. Not pleasant but it’s better than killing them.

We went a little further in the boat around to Lochmara Bay and had a hot drink stop at the Lochmara Lodge. The day before a pod of dolphins were making their way around the Sounds so we kept our eyes open but there were none to be seen. Alas the chai and hot chocolate’s were a very good distraction. Back for our last night at the Gillan bach Vic cooked a lovely lentil and pasta dish and we finished Cranium, only to be defeated! The following day we helped to tidy the bach in preparation for the Gillan family Christmas holidays, we read and just enjoyed being outside in the warmth.

To sum up our experience we really enjoyed the Malborough Sauvignon Blanc wines, we loved just relaxing in the sun, reading and chatting with friends and it was so good to have a taste of home. The Malborough Sounds are pretty idyllic and the idea of a bach by the sea is very tempting indeed.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

The train down to Surat Thani left at 7.30pm and we got in at around 7.30am the next day. There were a load of people making their way down for the full moon party which was going off at the weekend. We were trying to avoid the masses and opted instead to head to somewhere Helen has never visited before whilst travelling through Thailand. Our destination was Khoa Sok National Park and so when we exited the train we headed straight to a restaurant area where we could buy bus and taxi services to any destination in the south. We managed to book onto a mini-van operator who would pick us up at 10.30am, so we sat in a restaurant along with a few other backpackers and enjoyed a fruit shake whilst we waited.

The pick up was early to our surprise and it took around an hour and a half to reach the entrance to Khao Sok. We didn’t have any accommodation booked but as soon as we got there taxi drivers were ready waiting with their pick up trucks to take us to a place to stay. We wanted to go to one place recommended called Art’s River View Lodge in the Lonely Planet which was advertised as being around 300 Baht as their cheapest option but when we got there we were informed that the cheapest room was 600 Baht, so we soon moved on and luckily our taxi driver hung around so that he could earn his commission for wherever we would end up. There was a great place further back down the lane towards the main road called Nungs House that we had spotted on our way past.

They had a great sized bungalow with en-suite and hot water which we bargained at for 2 nights for 500 Baht. The manager there is really friendly and hospitable. We looked around for a few tour options for the next day and then set off to explore the national park for a few hours. When we set off it was very hot and sunny, within 2 hours the weather changed and a monsoon came with it. We’d managed to walk a good distance and stop by at some of the waterfalls in the area (although they didn’t really impress us). It was a good walk but we could tell the weather was going to worsen so we started making tracks back and in doing so got caught in a monstrous downpour which brought to the surface many leaches who decided to attach themselves onto us…not a pleasant experience but getting absolutely drenched was fun!

When we got back we opted to book the one day lake and cave tour through our guesthouse as-well as our travel arrangements to Koh Pha-Ngan. The one day tour cost us 1500 Baht each including lunch, we managed to find a few cheaper alternatives but only by 100 Baht or so and we were happy with the service at the guesthouse so decided to go with them. The joint bus and boat tickets to Koh Pha-Ngan were 600 Baht each.

The following day we woke up early to be picked up at 8.30am for the tour. There were 7 of us in total along with another cheeky chappy Thai tour guide and the drivers. It took around an hour and a half to get to Cheow Lan Lake, an enormous man made lake built for hydro-electricity. As we arrived at the pier there was a long-tail boat waiting to take us on an hour long boat trip to the Tham Nam Thalu cave. The scenery around in and around the lake is stunning, we were reminded once more of the karst peaks we’ve seen time and again in China, Vietnam and Laos but we thought this was the most beautiful of the karst areas we’d yet visited. They jutt out of the water some 950m, with perhaps 100-300m depth below, we just couldn’t believe that the lake was man-made and had taken nearly 20 years to fill.

Along the way we stopped to view monkeys swinging in the trees and a monitor lizard who was unhappily disturbed from its roost by our tour guide who just couldn’t resist getting the creature on public show for us. Be warned, Thai tour guides and those from other South-East Asian countries do like to show off and disturb creatures from their natural habitat to show them off to tourists, but it’s not what we want to see!! Still they’ll do it all the same, like boys playing with ants!

On the south-west shoreline there is a base where many tourists and backpackers stay for the night in bamboo style bungalows over the waters edge. There are also a few restaurants there and we were able to use kayaks as part of our tour cost, we enjoyed a great lunch there too. After a short trip on the kayaks and a very filling lunch we took the boat a little further down the shore-line and got off to start a 2 hour walk through the jungle to the cave. We crossed through big jungle forest trees and leaves, butterfly’s drinking from the water-logged paths and more wildlife which prompted our tour guide to once again act his child-like ways by disturbing them and trying to grab them for us to photograph. We saw massive spiders, lizards, beetles, birds and so on, before eventually arriving at the cave entrance. We didn’t really know what to expect but the cave is massive! We packed away our cameras and valuables into dry-packs and started trekking through the cave. We were in the cave for over an hour making our way from one side to the other, passing by hundreds of bats, more huge spiders, toads, frogs and streams. There were other tourists in there too but most of the time our group was alone, and at one stage we all stripped down to our swim gear and got ready to swim through the deeper streams. Our hero tour guide took all of our dry-packs over his shoulders and didn’t once get them wet, whilst he directed our steps along rocks and through small rivers that he has guided people through time and again. At one point we were head deep in water as we climbed down a waterfall and into a pool, it was scary and exciting all at once. We couldn’t believe the scale and depth of the cave and with all of the wildlife, limestone, rock formations and water passing through, we have to say it was an amazing experience.

As we exited the cave we had a further half hour or so walk back to the boat which was then followed by a tasty snack of fresh fruit and banana rice balls – yum! With another one hour boat journey back we eventually arrived at our accommodation after 8pm, it was a very long day indeed but we really enjoyed it and thought our tour guide was great too. We enjoyed food with our fellow tour buddies and then made our way back to prepare for another departure the next morning.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We stayed at a great hostel in Bangkok called Hostelling International Bangkok, it’s around half and hour from Khao San road heading up river. It’s a little tricky to find, especially at 5 in the morning but once we got our bearings we thought the location was pretty good. We didn’t want to be in the hustle and bustle of Khao San and we had a ferry stop nearby at Thawet in the Dusit district.

We couldn’t check in until after midday so we decided to take the ferry south and head towards China town so we could get absorbed in some street photography. We always like getting to a big city after ambling through rural areas as there is an energy and buzz that definitely inspires us photographically. Bangkok did just this for us, we weren’t particularly interested in doing too many touristy things as per usual but we were quite happy to get lost in the streets and photograph people, places, food of course!

China town is busy at any time of day with no exception at 10am in the morning, we found alleyways with beautiful light, bizarre funeral gifts, food stalls and bizarre crafts. It’s dirty, hectic and a little tacky but all the while we took it in and enjoyed being flies on the wall. We spent a good few hours making our way through the Lonely Planet walking tour before hopping on the ferry back to our stop so we could check in.

The hostel houses some very nice retro 70′s wooden furniture and the retro theme runs throughout. Our room was very Germanesque in style with a nice hint of art deco in the decor, we loved it and thought it would definitely be a good place to hide away from the busy streets of Bangkok. We made a few plans for the next few days and caught up on some sleep before heading out to catch up with some friends on Khao San road. Nicola was Helen’s old neighbour in Leicester so it was lovely to finally catch up with her and Matt on their travels across the globe. We were relieved not to be staying in this area as the streets were packed and it’s really hit and miss for the accommodation around there. However we do know there are some good options if you don’t want to travel too far away from the backpackers hub of Bangkok.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 processed in Lightroom 3)

The bus was due to depart from Siem Reap at 6am and we were informed to be at the ticket office for 5.30am. We arrived on time and several other travellers were waiting for the bus which was a medium sized coach but enough room for everyone on board, even if the bags were all thrown on the backseats! We paid $8 each for our tickets which was the cheapest we could find to Kratie with a change of buses in Kompong Cham, Doug and Emma were heading for Ban Lung and had to pay $19 each for the VIP bus, hotel pickup and a breakfast. It started in the usual way, drive around the area for at least an hour picking up passengers and packages to transport and then finally one last stop, it was to pick up Emma and Doug from a tuk-tuk, two hours later than they should have set off on the coach. Maybe the bus at Kompong Cham will be a VIP bus we thought!?

After 5 hours we arrived in Kompong Cham for our next bus connection and to all head off in different directions. The bus never materialised, either it left before we arrived or was non-existent, so we had to hassle the “travel coordinator” from our bus about what to do as the station office was no use and the bus driver had no inclination of trying to help. He arranged for us to go with another bus company on the other side of town, so the bus dropped us there. We would have to wait for 2.5 hours until the bus arrived so most of the stranded passengers (about 8 of us) headed for some food, fried rice with beef or noodles was pretty much the only option. Helen wasn’t feeling too good so she had plain boiled rice.

Finally a bus arrived, which incidentally looked pretty swanky, and we were informed we were all on the bus as it would stop at Kratie and then proceed up to Ban Lung. However there were not enough seats or luggage space in the hold on the coach so 5 people had to sit on their bags in the isle. Luckily people disembarked fairly quickly at random stops along the way so we all got seats within the hour. After a long journey we finally arrived at Kratie with an ounce of sunlight left in the sky and we found our preferred option for accommodation, the Balcony Guest House, over looking the Mekong River. Success, they had rooms with shared bathroom for $5. The room at the front of the building with a double bed was very large and had a huge ceiling with fan, it felt very Mediterranean in style and we loved the 70′s retro concrete building. We didn’t go far that evening and opted for some food from the Balcony’s restaurant which was pretty nice (real Heinz Baked Beans we think!!), but a bit overpriced for the portion sizes we received, washed down with some homemade Ginger Ale which tasted pretty boozy!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

People in this part of the world get up early, so you get up early too. We awoke at 6am and decided to watch the sunrise from our floating house looking out across the water. The sunlight colour and luminance changes so fast that its a photographers dream to be somewhere so unique and interesting. Breakfast was provided by our guests and we happily ate yet more fried eggs, bread, jams and fruit which would set us up nicely for another day of boat travel and beach time. This time we headed back on ourselves from the following day and docked at beach 6 which was again very isolated and offered the chance of some snorkeling action. The water was relatively clean, not crystal by any means, and there were a few fish around the rocks which made it interesting. After all feeling the power of the sun on our skin yesterday we had a slightly more sheltered day under the trees on the beach front when not swimming or exploring the beach.

Lunch was again provided by our guide and the boat driver which was amazing again. We think they had learnt that we eat quickly and therefore fill up quickly and they did not produce as much food as yesterdays lunch which was a relief to us all. The boat left at 1.30pm and we made our way around the island, past the homestay and onwards to the Mangrove forests which we did not arrive at until nearly 5.30pm. We walked through the forest along a raised wooden platform exploring the trees and their amazingly alien like roots. Sunset arrived swiftly and we departed for Koh Kong where a tuk-tuk was awaiting our return. We felt the tour was amazing and our guide and driver were great, so we tipped them a few dollars as it was well deserved. The tuk-tuk drove us back to the tour operators and we grabbed our bags from the Dugout hotel as we were moving to a cheaper hostel. Big thanks to the Dugout for allowing us to leave our bags, whilst we were away, however on our return arrogance and rudeness seemed uncalled for, as well as asking for a tip for the girls who apparently looked after and carried our bags, but if tipping was not our thing, don’t worry about it. Even though it is in many review books, we are not sure how long it will last with attitudes like that and at $16 a night in a tired room we did not feel a tip was warranted.

We moved up the road to were Ali and Carl were staying and we got a great room for $7 and then $10 the following night as it was Chinese New Year. We freshened up and all met for some evening food. Ice cream followed from a great place on the water front and then an early night before heading off in the morning on a bike ride into the Cardamon Mountains Conservation Corridor to find the Tatai River and Waterfall.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We had a slow start to the new year, not a lot was done at all. Helen had quite a hangover for the first part of the morning but after a while and a re-hydration sachet she soon perked up. As the day went on we cuddled in the cafe and worked on editing and the blog. We had some good comfort food and went out for a little walk before heading into town to meet Emma and Doug for some local food. We ended up at a great cheap little clay pot restaurant away from West Street where you’ll find most backpackers eating away, you can eat a good meal for around £1. So having recovered from hangovers we swapped notes on our plans for South-East Asia and ended the night with a nice cup of chai.

We started the following day early with an hour or so of horse-riding accompanied by a local guide. The session was supposed to be an hour but Dave’s horse was a little slow so we ended up being on the horses for an hour and a half. Our guide couldn’t speak very good English so it was more about signaling and the odd whip to get the horses up to his pace. This was Dave’s first time on a horse, but they were pretty tame and we think the slow pace probably helped for the first-timers. Helen’s horse was well-behaved and just got on with it, trotting when instructed to and just followed his lead. The guide came along with 3 horses and met us at Trippers, he took the white horse which was the smallest and the most feisty so we were relieved that he was riding that one. It would have been nice to find out the names of the horses but we still managed to have a small bond! Our trip concluded by a little stop on a sandy beach where our guide proceeded to take a few photos of us with our new travel companions. It was a nice experience, perhaps a little pricey at £12 each, but we enjoyed it all the same.

We had planned to do some rock-climbing later on, but the weather came in and the temperature had dropped quite significantly so we decided to hire some bikes for the afternoon and make our way to Fuli. Tripper had given us some good advice on a route to Fuli away from the busy roads, the first part of the route took us back to where we’d been with the horses earlier on and we made out way to a little taxi ferry so we could cross the river to get to the start of the path. There was a man cooking his lunch and he was ready to eat signaling to his stomach, we tried to communicate that we didn’t mind waiting for him to eat but he left it cooking and took us over the river with our bikes. When we got to the other side we found the path straight away and set off on another biking adventure. Our target was Fuli and we had a map showing various paths and villages for us to go through. It definitely helped us to get warm and it was great riding along the bumpy trials. We’ve really enjoyed hiring bikes in China as it has always given us the best platform through which to explore in our own time. Most of the villages are very tranquil and it’s always great to see the culture of each place, seeing how people live with so little in contrast to the western world.

After some time we passed through orangeries and ended up on the road to Fuli. When we arrived there wasn’t really that much to see but we did stop for some lunch and meandered through the town’s streets until we came to the Li River. We were told we could pretty much cycle the length of the river back to Yangshou without going back onto the main road, this was the case for most of the journey and it was really good biking along the paths and through more villages, past more farmland and so on. After a while though our path led us back onto the main road and so we stuck with this until we got back into Yangshou.

We hadn’t much planned for the evening other than more work on Notworkrelated and some more good Trippers food. We’d already sampled the apple crumble which was delicious so we were looking forward to another relaxing evening. Most of the south of China comes without heating so it’s always good when we have the sun during the day, here though the weather was getting colder but we didn’t mind so much as Yangshou is a really pretty place and we were enjoying staying at Trippers so we decided to stay for a few more nights. That night we stayed in the cafe until quite late and as we were the only ones there asked if we could set up the laptop to watch another episode of Misfits. Addicted some might say!! We still made it to bed by 10.30pm though so we didn’t keep the staff up too late!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We were picked up at 8am by the taxi to take us to the tour bus in the centre of Guilin where we were met by a coach and several other tourists waiting for a little adventure. Our tour guide was a lovely camp chap who was very sweet indeed often repeating the delights of Yangshou “the most beautiful town in the province and the one of the most beautiful towns in all of China!”. We were promptly told that we would be in his team and our instruction was to follow the panda flag. So far we’ve managed to escape the tour groups led by flags so this was our first encounter of this, and we wondered whether we had chosen to do the right thing at 380 RMB each this better be good!!

We met a Dutch couple on holiday in China and exchanged travel tales as the boat set off. We shared the slow boat with a few other tour groups and every so often we would get called up onto the top deck for the best views in all of China. Unfortunately the weather didn’t really help in assisting it’s beauty but on a misty day it was still very beautiful indeed. The light was pretty flat for the most part but we hope the photos give you an idea of what we encountered. We were able to take our bags on board so we could carry on from Yangshou at the other end rather than making it a return journey to Guilin. The boat journey was around 4 hours and we had 4 main sights, although there are sights all the way and either on a bamboo raft or the slow boat you’ll get some amazing views on a clear day. There are various peaks names along the way such as Half-moon peak and 11 horse cliff, but the most memorable and probably famous is the one of that is pictured on a 20 Yuan note. The picture is a sketched out version of the Li River with several karst peaks jutting out of the landscape and a lonely man on a bamboo raft. Many moons ago this image would have been a reality but now there are so many tour boats and bamboo rafts on the river it’s pretty hard to enjoy the original views. Still it’s worth seeing and we were laughing at the count down to the view…5 more seconds and you will see the image on the 20 yuan note, 3 more seconds, 2 more seconds, 1 more second and so it went on. We saw the view, no bamboo raft but it was fun all the same.

We were provided with a buffet style lunch which was very fortunately served up just as we were exploring the downstairs part of the boat, this mean’t we were at the front of the queue and the food was hot. It wasn’t a bad lunch actually, you can pay more for the local dishes but there isn’t any point if you plan to go to Yangshou as you can eat there very cheaply. There were a few amusing tourists on board that captured our eye for a while until the boat got in to Yangshou at around 1pm.

We promptly said our goodbye’s and left the tour group to find our hotel/Inn; The Bamboo Inn. When we arrived they said we could move to their quieter hotel, The Bamboo Hotel down from the street if we wanted to go and have a look, we asked the see the room with balcony but there was a big gap in the door and as it was pretty chilly so we went to see the other hotel to compare. We were a little miffed about this as you have to wonder why are they taking us to their sister hotel and not showing us other rooms at the one we CHOSE to book? The room at the other hotel was fine and a little more modern but it’s still an odd one why they do this! The price was still the same though at 80yuan per night and we had only planned to stay 2 nights in the town itself before moving to a recommended hostel 15 minutes walk away in a quieter village out of town.

We walked around Yangshou’s busy streets that afternoon and bumped into Will again from TUL (The Unemployed Life) he was rounding up people for the Monkey Jane’s NYE party along with a few others. We had already heard about the infamous Monkey Jane’s hostel from other travelers along the way and knew this was where the party would be if any were going on in town for New Years. We dropped by to pick up our tickets and free t-shirt after meandering the streets of Yangshou it was pretty busy, we’d been told on our tour that Yangshou attracts around 15 million Chinese visitors each year…we were just glad we weren’t visiting during peak season as it was busy enough for us.

We enjoyed a quiet night and opted to do a bike ride the following day.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We went out for a bike ride with one of the Chinese girls’ Sylvia who was staying in the dorm with us, she was friends with another of the girls working at the hostel. It was good to have her with us as she could help us to find our way by asking the locals which way to such and such a place. She wanted to go to a specific village called Xixhou which is about 20km away from Dali old town. We wanted to cycle through some of the villages closer to the lake so we could explore the farmland, the most direct way would be to cycle along the high way for the entire ride but that’s no fun, so we compromised and spent some time cycling to the villages and some time catching up and taking the highway to the furthest place.

The farmland in Dali is very lush and extremely beautiful to photography. During our stay in Dali the sky was a perfect blue and it was a very comfortable temperature indeed, only being cold in the shade. By night it dropped significantly but we had electric blankets to cope with this!

So we took in the scenery around us, some farmland, some lake and some road. It was stunning. We got to Xixhou at around 3pm and ambled through the village market before stopping for some very good value soup rice noodles. For 3 of us to eat it cost around £2.80, and the food tasted really good. The only bad thing was a local guy pestering us for left over food and drink, he wouldn’t leave us alone and eventually got what he wanted. Still the setting took us away from this. We continued out of the village and took the road to some older parts of the area. Once more fantastic views, terraces and buildings surrounded us.

We decided to make our way back at around 4pm and set off for Dali. We were going quicker than Sylvia on her lady-like bike so we waited for her every so often, plus the drivers on the road aren’t the most reliable often overtaking two cars in one go so we wanted to make sure we were all with us. When we got back Sylvia joked about how fit we were compared to her and she said she’d only ever ridden a bike once before in her life. Considering this fact she did very well indeed.

When we got back we ate at an Indian restaurant down the road from our hostel and enjoyed more chai. Back at the hostel there were a few more travelers, Helen got chatting to Jane who she’d seen at various other places around China. It’s very easy to bump into people when you use Hostelworld for recommendations on where to stay. Many people also choose to travel through South China from Vietnam as it’s a good route and the weather is pretty good in Yunnan.

So it was our last night in Dali and we really loved the town and the hostel had a nice vibe too. We decided to nip back to Bakery 88 the next morning to get some take-away sandwiches with very good cheese and meat! Yum!! We also sneaked in a few more granola slices.

The bus back took the scenic route as part of the highway was closed but this wasn’t a bad thing as it meant we got to drive through some more beautiful countryside and villages. It was quite a luxury bus with only a few of us on board, and we got back to Cloudland at around 7pm. We had some food, chatted away and got ready for our flight to Guangzhou the following day.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)