Up at 6am today as we were both feeling jet-lagged, making ourselves stay in bed as long as we could having woken up on the hour since about 3am. The early wake up was good though as it meant we could get to the Venice beach Farmers Market for opening at 7.30am. It’s a small market, much smaller than its neighbouring Santa Monica one but it’s got enough to offer in terms of fresh produce, which for us is ideal as we’re self catering.

So we tentatively spent our first dollars and bought a very delicious assortment of cherry tomatoes, some leafy greens and homemade dill bagels with a lovely whipped cream cheese! That’s lunch sorted for the next few days!

When we got in we enjoyed our first breakfast here which was helped by Matt’s generous offering of endless supplies of mangoes, strawberries and blueberries! This fueled us enough for a walk to the Santa Monica Pier along the beach front. It’s about 2 miles to the pier from Venice beach and there are paths for cyclists and pedestrians all the way along the stretch of the beach and beyond. It’s really set up for the fitness fanatics. Getting closer to the pier we watched surfers, and people setting up their spots on the beach for the day. We explored the pier and then made our way back to Venice.

Later on we explored the Venice Canals, a place we think we will frequent with our cameras, it’s really beautiful and very close to where we’re staying. It’s just good to stroll around and take in the contrast of houses from quaint, old beach style homes to modern grand designs. We ended our afternoon on the beach – we had arrived!

Helen started her course in the evening with Erich Schiffman so no doubt will be very yoga focused in the next 10 days, but Venice does have this boho vibe going on so we don’t think she’ll be too out of place!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM & Olympus PEN EP-1, 17mm f/2.8 & 100mm f/2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We started off the day by eating a fairly good breakfast included in our accommodation at the hostel, we’re not sure how 4 mornings of eggs and toast would go down! We spent a short while documenting the hostel downstairs as it really is a lovely space. Following on we took the number 56 bus to the Chatuchak weekend market which took around 45 minutes to get to. It’s a much cheaper option than taxiing or getting a tuk-tuk there and cost 26 baht between us. When we got there we went straight to the information office for a guide of the area, there are more than 8000 market stalls in a 35 acre area of land so we thought it would be good to know where we were going and plan our route.  We wanted to pick up a few items ready for the south and some replacement clothes for one’s we’ve been wearing over and over since we started travelling in October.

We started by exploring the vintage/second hand section which is any stylists and fashion designers dream. It houses anything from vintage tea dresses to leather bags, retro sports wear and re-worked seconds into new garments. It has to be said that the Thai’s on are top of their game when it comes to vintage trading, they know what sells to Westerners and they have a good depth of stock. Helen was very close to picking up some old tea dresses for when we get back home but managed to resist spending the pennies. We crossed through many fashion stalls and picked up sandals, shorts, t-shirts and vests whilst taking a few shots along the way.

The most memorable photo for us from this collection is of the giant tattooed man sleeping next to his market stall, surrounded by badges, paintings, bags and handmade crafts. He was covered all over in tattoos, piercing’s and leather and was disguised by the goods that swamped him…There were certainly many characters around. We walked by the music area and watched young children playing on their violins and we passed through the antiques section too. Seriously though you can buy pretty much anything you want at this market, we’ve read about illegal animal trading going on here too so if you do see anything you’re not happy about you can always report it to the police that patrol the site. We think we got what we wanted though with little fuss and enjoyed some decent street food too.

Later that night we took the ferry south and made our way to the flower market, it’s a 24 hour place with fresh flowers being prepared day in day out. If you get there late or very early in the morning it will be a real hive of activity. We got there at about 6.30pm at night and wandered through the street area and also some back street warehouses where we saw some of the work that goes on behind the scenes. We did want to go to other markets but with only one weekend in Bangkok most of the better markets take place on Saturdays and Sundays and there’s only so many markets you can get to in 2 days!

We ended the evening at a lovely restaurant overlooking the river right next to our ferry stop in Thewet, we had great views but the service was a bit of a mess, good job we weren’t in much of a rush.

Oh oh beautiful Pai! How we loved our days camping in our wonderful boutique style tent with views across the valleys…not to make people jealous but we really were spoilt and all for as little as 250 baht a night! We loved spending time in our tent, reading, watching the sunrise, and having the luxury of a duvet! It was very hot during the daytime when we were here sometimes reaching 38 degrees, but in the night we were nicely cooled by the 16 degree air. This felt quite cold actually, long gone are the cold nights in China.

There isn’t that much to do in Pai to be honest, but it is a very beautiful town with lots of yoga class offerings, cooking classes, walks, bike rides and so on. In the night-time the streets turn into a walking night market with local crafts and clothes many of which are made by the neighboring tribal villages. We picked up a few nicely branded Pai items which are hard to avoid, but they do tend to stand out over most tourist branded things. There are opportunities to hike and explore on kayaking tours in the wet season but we opted for some low-key adventuring in the form of hiring a motorbike for the day and exploring most of Pai’s famous sights. It is a very twee place and extremely popular with Thai holiday makers due some old films that were made there in the 90′s.

There is a pool around 1km outside of Pai in the direction of the Canyon at a place called Fluid, it’s a good sized swimming pool and they have plenty of space for sunbathing too. The food there is okay but overpriced for what you get, however it’s probably the best place in town to cool down from the heat especially when the river is at a low level.

Helen found a nice yoga class to attend which cost 200 baht for a 2 hour session, if she hadn’t had been struck by her 3rd tummy bug in 5 weeks then she would have been able to attend a few more classes!! It’s also a great way to meet people as many will do 3 classes in a row before moving on. Aside from the stomach upsets though we had a fantastic time here and would consider returning. We don’t think we’d be able to get as good a deal on accommodation in the future especially for our little set up as we knew they were a new resort.

So 5 days later and we were ready to head back to Chiang Mai. We can quite see why people end up hanging around Pai for longer than anticipated. There are great restaurants offering a variety of good Thai, western and other foods, there are places to go and drink chai, a good choice of bars, shops to poke around in,  and a nice river that flows through beautiful scenery. If you’re a little prone to travel sickness then the 764 turnings in the road to get there may cause a slight problem but getting a mini-van would help with this. We got a minivan there for 180 baht and the return journey to Chiang Mai was only 150. You can get a local bus for around 72 baht if you don’t mind being crammed into the rooftop and the journey takes around 3-4 hours.

When we got back into Chiang Mai we sorted out a few arrangements for the next few days; one was to book an elephant mahout day, another to do a one day massage course and the last to sort out our travel arrangements to Bangkok.

(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)

After a good breakfast at the Lam Tong we checked out of our little place and moved over to Mellow. Luckily our room was ready so we dumped the bags got into our swim wear and headed to the beach, pretty much running in and enjoying the nice temperature. We played in the sea for a while swimming, trying to body surf and Helen got washed up. It made a refreshing change from earlier this month walking in our winter gear every day.

We did some research with J&J into our ideas for a Mekong tour, we were all quite convinced that a biking tour would be up our street so we looked into a few options and then hired a moto for the rest of the afternoon. We took ourselves up to the next village passing by markets, fishing boats and Pagodas. Children chased us around asking to look after our bike, we were teased into a temple and then asked for money which we didn’t have so made a sharp exit.

It was quite cloudy on our way back and so stopped for the stormy looking sky with the sun breaking through. Back in Mui Ne we ate at the restaurant where we had stayed the night before and enjoyed some lovely fish kebabs, the only downside was Jules was looking forward to a nice jacket potato but along came 2 very small potatoes wrapped up in foil turning out like hard boiled ones.

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

After an early morning run up and down the beach followed by a swim we enjoyed a hearty breakfast at Long Time before deciding on a route to go out on the scooter. After about 10 minutes of heading south of Mui Ne we were pulled over by the Police, we had no idea why they pulled us to start with; both of us were in helmets which is now the law in Vietnam, we weren’t speeding and we had driver’s licence…however we soon came to realise that they weren’t going to be pulling us over for any rational reason. They asked to see our licence or permit from the bike owner and took the bike from us placing it into a compound full of other bikes they’d already taken in that day. Dave had to pay for a moto-taxi back and forth to Mellow to pick up our details, and when we showed them to the Police they weren’t interested and insisted that we needed a Vietnamese licence. We knew this wasn’t the case and tried to argue our point even pointing to the Lonely Planet section on hiring bikes, but they weren’t interested and told us to leave.

So back to Mellow it was where we arranged to meet up with the owner and see what was going to happen, we knew there could be some kind of bribery involved and it was communicated that if the bike owner was to get his bike back from the Police then the total fine would be 1,000,000 dong which is $50! He asked us to pay half of this amount, to start with we asked a few questions with other bike companies and western people who’d been in the area for a while, but we learned that unless the fine was paid our bike owner would loose out on 10 days worth of trade. We also found out that many of the bigger companies pay a fee each month to the Police to avoid any problems like this with tourists. One comment that was made by a western man at Mellow went a little like this…”the police pull in a lot of bikes around this time of year…funny how it happens just before and after Tete…beer money!” Hmmmm! So another lesson learned and hopefully of some advice to those of you looking to rent bikes in this region. We decided to pay half to the man and be down with it, such an annoying start to the day and for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So back to the beach it was for the rest of a lovely afternoon, we didn’t let it bother us too much and enjoyed more swimming and relaxing. Later on we had a fab pizza from a restaurant about 10 minutes walk east of Mellow followed by an acoustic session with the Vietnamese version of a 70′s soul star at Joe’s bar – open 24 hours apparently.

22nd – Another day at Mui Ne

This was definitely the location for us Vietnam where we found some time to relax, obviously there are many tourists that travel through, the Russians use this area as their holiday destination but so do many professional kite surfers with the world championships taking place the previous week. You will often see the anticipation of kite surfers waiting for the wind, every day they wait for the right time, often getting ready and going home again after an hour of disappointment. Its good to see especially when the light is good.

We started the day again with running and swimming and the amazing fruit platter for breakfast from Long Time getting in a head start towards our 5-a-day. We decided to use the day once more for some beach action, earlier on there was some rain but by the afternoon it all cleared and we enjoyed a wonderful late afternoon sun, Dave even managed another run! This was followed by a moody golden sunset and we walked along the beach photographing what we saw along the way. You can learn to windsurf and kite surf on the beach and there are many schools offering this but it all costs money and was out of our budget but it is THE place in South-East Asia for Kite-surfing so no doubt the instruction will be top. Other activities around Mui Ne include the sand-dunes and various options of getting around them. We were heading this way when our bike was taken from us so we were quite happy not to spend anymore money getting around, but again have heard it’s a good afternoon option.

Our last evening in Mui Ne saw us go back to Joe’s for some Thai food, it was okay perhaps the portions were a little small for the cost but the atmosphere was good and we enjoyed more live music. Back to Mellow for our last night and the next morning we were due to leave at around 7.30am. Mellow were pretty good at offering us a discount for 3 nights stay with them, it’s always good to ask for discounts if you’re planning on staying a while.

Up early and out the door with our baggage we headed to the Ocean Tours office. We were able to leave some bags at the tour office to lighten the load whilst on our trip to Halong bay with our new friends Justin, Jules, her brother John and his wife Lisa. The six of us piled into the tour bus with the other adventurers and began our 4 hour journey to the bay. We arrived at midday after a stop at a service area which sold assorts of tourist paraphernalia including huge tapestries which were made in the shop by a bank of ladies at sewing machines.

Once we arrived we boarded the Junk boat and set sail into the bay which had some nice views if a little cloudy. The boats have accommodation for up to fourteen people so they are nice and cosy. Due to the limited space we were staying on Cat Ba Island for the first night and on the boat on the second.

We were served some very good food on the afternoon which included some fresh seafood which we all loved. After some more sailing and relaxing on the top deck we dropped anchor and a boat arrived with some kayaks for us to venture into the bay under our own power. They were double person kayaks so we both jumped in and paddled around into bays and caves. Even though the weather wasn’t the best we loved the kayaking and the water was a decent temperature, there was even talk about going for a dip in the water at some point!

We boarded another junk boat that had docked with the first boat and the six of us headed off to Cat Ba Island for the evening. The sun poked through the clouds and it made the whole area just that little bit more magical. Our tour guide was chatting to us, supplying us with information on the area and answering any questions, he was very knowledgeable and helpful. Upon docking at the island we headed to our evenings accommodation via push bikes for a few km, maybe taking around 20 minutes to get there (our bags were taken onwards via motorbike). The village is very small and quiet with a new custom built area for the tourists to stay in basic but practical bungalows with en-suite bathroom, hot water and a double bed.

To save some money we purchased a little present from Hanoi in the form of a bottle of Rum priced at 90,000 Dong (£3). Justin and Jules had the same idea, so out came two litres of spirits which got the night off to a good start. Dinner was served and again the food was very good, they even catered well for the vegetarians and also wheat intolerance. We were informed in Hanoi that there would be AC heating in the room, but this was not the case, however more blankets were supplied and this kept us all fairly snug.

Breakfast was served at 8am which included some very good apple pancakes and omelettes. After some relaxation time and packing we all got together and headed off for a hike up the nearby karst peak (around 300m in height). Its quite a climb and you will need some good footwear, boots recommended, to manage the rocks and steep assent, apparently the record is around 35 minutes but we managed it in around 45/50 minutes. At the top there are some great views over the whole bay and down to the village below, however it started to rain so we headed down which was made more difficult by the slippery rocks underfoot.

We also ventured out to a nearby cave before heading back to the village for some lunch and then we jumped on the bikes to ride back to the dock to rendezvous with our evenings watery accommodation. The double rooms on the boat were very well presented, clean and comfortable, with hot water from the showers. The temptation to take a plunge in the water was just too much for some and after stripping down and braving the now chilly air, Justin, Jules, John and Dave all jumped in. It was chilly to say the least, but bearable for a few minutes, in the summer it must be lovely. The boat headed off and dinner was served including seafood and a plate of chips which all went down very well.

You can have a go at Squid fishing from the boats edge, however it was a quiet night in the ocean and nothing was caught, good job we weren’t fishing for our food, otherwise we would have been very hungry. After some card games and an offer for Dave to play some Texas Holdem poker with the Vietnamese boat staff, which we declined when we found out they were playing for money, I’m sure we would have got shafted, we headed to our cabin for a night at sea.

After a good sleep in our cabin, breakfast was served on deck and we were informed that due to bad weather we had to move to a safer bay which took us too far away from the Amazing Caves that we were due to visit. This was unfortunate but out of anyones hands, government orders apparently, so we set sail back to port. Upon arrival at the port we had lunch at 11am, so we were all feeling pretty full after two meals in the space of a few hours. The food wasn’t as good as on the boat but it was ok. Generally speaking the food on the trip was very good indeed, often at times we felt like each meal rolled into the next, you certainly wont go hungry if you book with Ocean Tours!

The journey back to Hanoi was uneventful and we arrived safely back at Ocean Tours at around 4.30pm. We had a sleeper bus booked for that evening so we were glad we had the time to get to the hostel pickup point and grab some food before our departure of Hanoi. Street food was a quickest option and we had some rice dishes. Helen’s vegetarian option was sticky rice and pickled cucumber, which was tasty but basic, Dave’s was a type of salami, a fried boiled egg, rice and sauce which was very tasty, almost like a mini full English breakfast.

At 6pm we were picked up from the Rendezvous hostel via mini bus and taken to the sleeper bus for the journey to Hoi An via Hue, a 13 hour journey to Hue and then 4 hours onwards to Hoi An.

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

Up early for our last time in Yangshou we were picked up by taxi from Trippers to be dropped off at the coach station for our journey to Nanning. It took around five hours or so to reach Nanning and we jumped on a bus to make our way to the Lotusland hostel. We found it relatively easily and checked into our double room which was small but functional and clean. We headed to the booking office to book our bus journey into Vietnam which cost £15 each. Looking for some food we followed the map provided by the hostel and decided to go to a restaurant with an English menu. The food was pricey and not very good, with Dave having a difficult time eating his food with all the bones in his chicken curry! On the plus side the steamed and fried dumplings with a custard style sauce were the highlight of a disappointing meal.

The following day we ate our own breakfast in the hostel, as they do not provide food, but a microwave and bowls and then washed clothes and hung them out to dry on the roof of the hostel. We walked into town to see what Nanning was like during the day. It’s a typical Chinese city full to the brim of shops and little food places.

There is a free museum called The Guangxi Provincial Museum not far away from the center of town, it took around half an hour to walk there from the hostel. They were showcasing the Nanning Institute of Art and Design degree shows, which were quite impressive with fashion and product design, architecture, 3D and visualisation. It was great to see what the students are completing for their degree levels in China. There are also some permanent exhibitions in the museum featuring ancient drums, jewelery and other artifacts. Afterwards we were feeling hungry and found a Japanese restaurant in a shopping mall which helped quench the hunger pains.

We met up with Jane, who we had met in Dali, at the hostel and decided to go for food. Walking around we found a fast food style Chinese restaurant and had some pretty good food. The food was served in a wooden basket which was interesting, but tasty.

Neon lights and people dancing in the parks were our entertainment for the walk back to the hostel and then an early night as we had a change of Country tomorrow and we were excited to see a new landscape and culture of Vietnam.

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

After a much needed lie in we got up and enjoyed a Wada breakfast eventually getting out at around midday to see some of Guilin’s sights. We booked ourselves onto a boat tour to take us to Yangshou the following day, the tour costs were pretty pricey but we thought it would be a nice alternative to getting another bus. So with this booked we went out on the local buses to central Guilin and made our way to the scenic Solitary Beauty Peak based at the very centre of all the Karst peaks in Guilin and now with the University Campus set around it. It was quite a pleasant walk to this area through side streets and alleys, close to the Li River. Guilin is built in and around these peaks and the central peak is supposed to be this one with a small shrine and temple on top. The peaks aren’t very high but they are extremely steep, the more touristy ones have steps up (like this one), and they don’t take very long to climb but as they jut out of the ground so suddenly you will always get good views up there.

This one was a little busy with other tourists but we took our time around the campus and tried to avoid the tourist traps. On top of the peak are a few souvenir shops one of which occupied a girl who was sleeping over her stall. They will fall asleep anywhere over here!

After the peak we took in a few more sights around the city and went to a slightly more westernised local restaurant but did enjoy the food and it was nice and cosy in there too. We continued to walk along the river side towards Elephant mountain which looked like a nicer area to walk but we’d already paid for the entrance to the Beauty Peak and decided to save a few pennies by bypassing other peaks. The Elephant peak area does look really nice though and is perhaps a better value walk for your money.

We found our bus back to Wada and went back to the hostel to chill out. Later on we enjoyed a few drinks in the bar and then went to the local shopping mall for some food in Japanese form. We finished the evening off with a walk back to the hostel and got an early night ready for our early pick up the next morning.

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

We left one big bag behind at Cloudland hostel as they offer a free luggage storage service for 3 days (thereafter its 3yuan per day). So we took advantage of this and packed most things into one main rucksack and had the smaller ones for cameras and so on. The bus left from the one bus station in Kunming which is way out of town, it takes around 45 minutes to get there and will cost 50 yuan by taxi. We were lucky as two girls from the hostel were making their way to the bus station so we shared the taxi ride with them. They were also going all the way to Yuanyang so it was good to know there were more travelers making their way there.

The bus left at 10am but it was a chilly start to the day, much cooler than previous days and all the way to Yuanyang this weather seemed to stick with us. There were a few stops along the cliff edged roads, one of which led us to some interesting outside toilets others were drop offs for extra parcels and passports the driver seemed to be transporting. There was a bit of a traffic jam coming into Xinjie where the main buses will stop at for the terraces and we eventually pulled up at 4pm. Greg from Sunny’s Guesthouse was there to meet us, he’d been staying there for some months helping out and as their English speaking guide for the guesthouse. His English was perfect and this in itself was very helpful in negotiating the mini bus fare back to their village. The two girls we had met on our way to the bus also joined us, so all in all we had managed to save a few yuan by sharing taxis and so on.

It was pretty foggy which we’d heard is very common at the terraces as they are set at altitude so often the mist settles into the valleys and takes a day to clear. We stopped at a few vantage points along the way which gave us a hint of what to expect when the weather clears. Sunny’s Guesthouse is one of very few accommodations in the Douyishi village. It is run by husband and wife and their sun Frank, they are currently doing some renovation work (as is often the case in off season China) and they are limited when it comes to heating, but it has amazing rooftop views and is located at the foot of the rice terraces in the village so we were spoilt for choice! We opted for a double room mainly due to body heat, it was freezing!! We did have an electric blanket though so there was comfort in that. The mist didn’t clear but we got a few shots of the landscape before dinner and two of the other guys staying there turned up from a stroll so there was a good group of us around the table. Dining takes place in a separate outer building from the main guesthouse, Frank is the chef and he kept churning out top quality home-cooked organic dishes one plate after the other. We also enjoyed the red rice which is grown in the Yuanyang rice fields. The family ate at the table next to us which is great in itself as they really do welcome you to their home. We stayed up and chatted next to the little fire in the communal area and then settled in for the night in anticipation of a good sunrise the next morning.

We woke early but the fog was still with us so we stayed in the warm bed a little longer before getting up to join some of the others for breakfast. They were disappointed as the whole time they were there the fog was too! Still even the fog offers some great opportunities pictorially. For breakfast we enjoyed an eggy bread style theme; egg pancakes with jam (very tasty) eggy french bread (good) and fried egg…it did the trick but was a little too stodgy! Still it was hot food and the air was cold. Nathan from San Francisco had arrived at 5am so he joined us and we chatted about plans for later on hoping to catch the sunset if the fog cleared.

After breakfast we went for a stroll into the village. Still foggy, adding atmosphere to the surroundings, we wandered past the pigs, chickens and cows roaming around people’s houses. There is very much a sense of community here and we learned that the rice terraces belong to the villagers and they share out between themselves what they grow, we figured it must be the same for the animals. The houses are very simple, many with straw roofs and it’s a very basic way of living (although we’re sure they have large flat screen TV’s tucked away in some of them!) It’s a very picturesque place and making our way down to the terraces was really rewarding even in the fog. You can walk into them quite far on the small paths, the terraces can be quite abstract too with left over rice plants sticking out of the water. At times the sun peeked through the cloud and offered some strong reflections, but the fog would soon swallow it up again.

We arranged to meet Nathan, Frank and one of the girls at 4pm to head out in search of some better weather later on. This meant we had the day to catch up on editing, the electric blanket was turned on, we wore all the clothes possible and every so often we would pause for a run up onto the roof terrace to catch the views before going back down again. Helen got pretty cold so along to the Chemical Brother’s Push the Button album she had a boogy in the room to warm up!

We met up with the others at 4pm to go in search of a sunset, Frank had heard that the sun was out in a few areas of the region so we went off to find them. Some of the best views were found at roadside platforms where we could catch the terraces for free, the bigger more well known viewing areas are all charged on entry so we had to toy with the plan…if the weather isn’t going to be good over there let’s see what we can find for free rather than getting there, paying and having no views. When we originally came into the Yuanyang region we managed to avoid the entrance fee by sitting in the back of the mini van and being unnoticed by the gateway keepers. To access the villages alone there is a 60yuan per person fee for tourists, but if it’s foggy, the weather is bad or you can hide behind local drivers then you will miss this fee. We were nearly charged on the second day but Frank managed to talk us out of it.

Finally we reached an area that had clear views and strong sunset colours reflecting off the water filled terraces. It was quite a special moment, we could see the fog coming in on different sections of the terraces. Wow! The terraces go on for what seems like miles, and this was only one section!

We did have to pay Frank for ferrying us around but it was only 30yuan per person so that wasn’t too bad at all, he also took off some money for us as he didn’t take us all the way to other viewing areas, this was mainly because the weather wasn’t as clear there anyway so it did us a favour. Back at Sunny’s we enjoyed another family meal, perhaps not as good as the first night, but there was plenty of choice and we were joined by some more guests. We stayed up with Nathan and Greg sipping on hot tea and chatting away until it was bed time. We were leaving early the next day but had vowed to be on the rooftop for the sunrise.

6.30am and we were on the roof watching the sun rise over the mountain tops and Dave shot some more slow shutter imagery on the Olympus Pen. If we’d have had more time we would have loved to stay for that day as we knew the weather was getting better, but we had other plans to go further north from Kunming and we were happy with what we had seen.

A quick breakfast and we were all squashed into the mini van to take us back to the bus station. This time we shared the journey with 4 others so once again costs were reduced. The bus left at 8.30am and along with Nathan we made our way back to Kunming. It was a much warmer day all round and we arrived in Kunming at 5pm, Nathan shared our taxi and covered the costs as a work expense which we were very grateful for. We said our goodbyes and landed at Cloudland at around 6pm in time for dinner.

A few hellos to other travelers we had met in Shanghai and we went out to one of the local eateries for some great cheap local food. This was followed by a quiet night at the hostel and arrangements to take a bus to Dali the following afternoon.

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

We arrived Shanghai at around 7am and having being inspired by Rick and Beth (from the Japan to China boat trip) we proceeded to eat our breakfast of oats, banana and raisons out of thermos cups! Really nice! We went straight to The Mingtown Hiker YHA which is based close to The Bund in central Shanghai. The hostels are great over here as we always manage to get an early check in. This hostel is quite large, is in a good location and has a good social cafe for meeting people. The four person dorm was a good size, clean and the shared showers down the hall were steamy hot!

The Bund is a popular attraction in Shanghai with views over the river to Pudong’s famous skyscrapers. We walked from Mingtown to the Bund which takes around 10 minutes and strolled along the paved promenade. We were looking forward to some famous Shanghai heat and humidity after the chilly spell in Beijing however the clouds, wind and rain had moved in and it felt very much like a cold and damp December in the UK. Not happy! We followed The Bund walking tour as outlined in The Lonely Planet and walked by some art deco style buildings and famous hotels that play host to historical stories surround the gang of 4 and other war time events. One such place called the Fairmont Peace Hotel has a pretty impressive entrance way and interior. Following on from here we came across a temple in the middle of the shopping area in Shanghai. It houses a large silver Buddha statue which is quite impressive, but it’s all a little surreal placed in between large electronic ad campaigns and department stores.

The Propaganda Poster Art centre had some good reviews in the Lonely Planet and we were interested to see the collection which is located in a basement floor underneath a 20+ story block of flats. It was a little tricky to find but the security guards pointed us in the right direction. It was a great collection of art and design with some interesting historic information to back up the messages and put the posters in context with the political and social movements of the time.

Traveling for a year has its limitations on budget as you can imagine, so on the lookout for some cheap eats, we wandered around the streets looking for just that. This can be difficult if you end up in the wrong area of Shanghai so we chose a fast-food chinese food restaurant chain which had some fairly substandard food. It was cheap and filled us up but that is all. Back to the hostel we had a couple of beers and got chatting to a couple of Scottish girls who are teaching over here in China.

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