A windy night ensured some light sleeping in the swaying van over night but waking to find a seal outside your van is a nice morning surprise. This is perhaps the most scenic spot we have camped at looking straight out toward huge waves crashing in. We were hoping to hire surf boards but as we couldn’t get any cash from anywhere we just packed up and went onwards along the Caitlins scenic route.

We ended up having quite a sightseeing day starting with a much needed coffee at the Whistling Frog Cafe on the road toward the McLean Falls which is where we were headed next. We walked up to the base of the falls which at 25 minutes return was a little quicker than the 45 minute forest walk advertised on the Southern Scenic Route info. We soon found out that they were way off on their timings after walks to the Matai Falls and the Purakaunui Falls, we also felt like we were suddenly on a tour of New Zealand’s waterfalls. They’re all lovely though with Purakaunui coming out top and also attracting the most tourists.

As we followed the route round we came across the Lost Gypsy Curios shop and gallery in Papatowai. This place is very intriguing and full of surprises and quirks. Containing old and the forgotten we spent some time playing with the gadgets, reading the funny signs and taking it all in. You can’t miss this place as there is a dummy outside holding a ‘Curios’ sign and the main gallery is housed in an old bus. Before making our way all the way round to Pounawae we decided to back track and visit Cathedral Caves, open only 2 hours either side of low tide. So we got there not long after 3pm and paid the $5 entrance fee, we were the first people on the beach which is private access only and along with a few other sight-seers we went to explore the caves.

It was only just low-tide so we had to climb onto rocks in order to get into the caves and make sure we were far in enough to avoid the tide coming in. We were able to loop round to another cave entrance where more shallow waves were splashing in but it was getting less and less. They were fairly impressive caves and the walk to and from the car-park is equally as enjoyable. We had a good chat with the warden about the caves and local birds and the like, the carpark was full so whoever is running this attraction is certainly doing okay!

When we continued along the road we stopped off in Owaka the Caitlins largest town with a sort of cash machine at the 4-square, accommodating only New Zealand account holders! We were able to pay on card though which was a good thing and so we stocked up and then made our way to the lovely Pounawae Bay where we would spend the next two nights at the Pounawae Motor Camp (lovely owners and really good facilities).

The following day we drove to Surat Bay, it’s not that far from Pounawae at all but we were heading for Jack’s Blow Hole straight after which was too far to walk. Surat Bay is a beautiful untouched bay stretching for a mile or so. Seals try to cool themselves in the sand whilst flies pester them and we also came across a dead seal and the remains of a sheep, harsh life!! Aside from this though we enjoyed a really nice walk along the full stretch of the bay as the sun came out to warm us. From now on the weather was looking to be good through to Christmas so we were happy about this.

When we left Surat Bay we drove west to Jack’s Blow Hole which includes a pleasant 30 or so minute walk to the hole. This blowhole is in the middle of a farmers field some 50 meters or so from the cliff edge. The waves come through to the hole underground and crash against the walls of the hole pretty much all the time, although high-tide is probably more impressive. It’s a pretty awesome sight though in terms of what is happening there. It’s closed off during the sheep-sheering season too which gives you an idea of its location.

By the afternoon we simply decided to chill out back at the campground, we were more than happy to read, work on the blog and cook some nice food before getting ready for our next drive to the Otago Peninsula the next morning.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

Today was to be our sightseeing day with a half day stint at the Grand Palace. We took the boat again to Tha Chang stop not far from the Palace area and followed some of the Lonely Planet’s walking tour for the area. We followed the first part of the route to the Bangkok’s Fine Art school which is located opposite the front gate of the palace, what a great place to study art and be inspired! Unfortunately there weren’t any exhibitions on so we sat in the courtyard for a while people watching and photographing the area. We crossed over the road to the Palace and as we passed through the gates were told we would both have to queue for longer length clothes to cover arms and legs all the way to our shoes. Helen thought she would need something but Dave’s passed the knee cropped trousers didn’t make the cut either so we both had to queue for half an hour for an assortment of sweaty shirts and skirts that had been worn by other tourists earlier that day. Nice! The annoying thing was that it was so hot, it was difficult wearing simply shorts and a vest let along trousers, a sarong and a shirt!!

Once dressed we continued onto the ticket office and purchased 2 tickets costing 350 Baht each. It is a very impressive sight indeed starting with pagoda’s, temples and shrines that glisten and sparkle in the sun. Vibrant golds, emeralds an ruby’s dominate the area with intricate gold leaf descriptive paintings along walls. You can’t go into the actual Palace or residence but walking around the grounds and visiting museum rooms, enthroning rooms and various formal occasion temples is pleasant enough if you don’t mind queuing with the many tourists who are also there. We watched the changing of the guards and after about 2 hours we decided to move on. It’s on a similar level to the Grand Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in terms of decadence, architectural design and intricate detailing.

There is a market around the corner from the Palace near to the ferry stop which we wandered through and people watched as they bargained for small collectible amulets. We also explored some back alleys where we got a glimpse of old Bangkok, houses on stilts on the river side and children playing in the narrow streets. After the long queue’s and heat of the day we’d had enough of sightseeing already and decided to head back to the hostel for a few hours as we were planning to make tracks on the sky-train later on to check out the night market and get some food.

We got a taxi to take us to the Ratchathewi sky train stop and from there took the sky train to Nana. This is the stop for the Paptong weekend market, perhaps an area that should be described as Bangkok’s red-light district! Although since 2004 Helen has noticed that things have been toned down a little and although there are many ping pong shows available it’s perhaps not thrown in your face as it used to be. We had a little wander through the streets and then got back on the sky-train for one more stop to Asok where we had planned to find a Tapas restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet. We decided this would be our date night and we would spend over budget for our meal. The Tapas restaurant is located next door to Suk II hostel, a place Helen has stayed at many a time when she has been in Bangkok before. So we had a look around after enjoying a buy 2 get one free deal at the restaurant, it didn’t really soften the final bill but we did enjoy some lovely western food for a change. The main reason we didn’t book to stay at Suk is that they’re prices are now quite high starting at 700 Baht for a double with shared bathroom, we were paying 430 Baht a night at our hostel with our own bathroom.

On our last full day in Bangkok we went off in the direction of Siam, the business and shopping district. We directed our attention onto buying a few items for our camera gear, and purchased a tripod and a small camera bag from the MBK shopping mall. We also bargained for the first series of The Wire as well as experiencing their food hall which is a must-do if you’re having a long day shopping in Bangkok!

We had a few galleries earmarked on the map that we were intending to visit, the main problem being that we couldn’t find 2 of them, one was in between exhibitions and one was housing a small photographic exhibition. So Wooden Postcards at the La Lanta Fine Art Gallery was the only one that was open.

After this slightly disappointing search for off-the wall Fine Art we promptly found a taxi and decided to head back. Our taxi driver had only been driving for 2 weeks in Bangkok and didn’t know where we were heading to, but he was determined to get us there so we gave him a chance, he made a few calls and got on the right tracks. It started raining heavily too so we were happy to be out of the down pour. We couldn’t get dropped off at our hostel as their was a problem with a demonstration taking up the top end of the Phitsanulok Rd. We thought we would walk right through it on our way back and were amazed by the amount of demonstrators there were, it seemed to be a peaceful demonstration taking place outside government buildings and the UN building. We managed to pick up on something to do with the release of Thai Nationals, but we couldn’t get this confirmed. As soon as we stepped out from under cover the rain came down hard and we were drenched by the time we’d walked 100m back to the hostel. The rain halted our plans that night so we stayed at the hostel and caught up on the blog.

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

Today we gave up on the idea of yet more bike riding misfortune and decided to use our legs. After an early morning run around Battambang and some breakfast we headed out to look at the french influenced buildings around the town and stop by at more temples. In the afternoon we headed out to the train tracks once more but this time to the abandoned railway tracks. Children playing in the wasteland that was once a French operated train yard, which is now home to people living on the perimeter of the town and is a dumping ground for their rubbish. We headed back towards the hotel with cameras poised. Toyota must have a huge market share in Cambodia, almost every car you see is a Toyota Camry, they love the Camry! More work time on the roof and a few drinks before heading off to the White Rose again for some cheap food, one vegetable and one fish Khmer curry.

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

We left HCMC at 8am, as always it took a while to get out of the city as the bus kept stopping to pick people up but once we were on our way it took around 2.5 hours to get to the Cambodian border, we had quite a smooth route through passport control as the bus company took our passports, visa fees as well as a $5 admin fee which we only assumed meant that we weren’t hanging around as much as we were through both departure and arrival points within half an hour. It’s always a little nerve racking when someone takes your passport but it worked and next minute we were in Cambodia. After only 15 minutes or so the bus stopped for lunch for 20 minutes and then we left in the direction of Phnom Penh. On this side it took around 4 hours in the end to get to the bus station near one of the big markets in central Phnom Penh, we were a little bombarded by tuk-tuk drivers and saw one of them holding a sign for Sweethome Guesthouse which is where we had made a reservation, they’re not actually from the guesthouse itself but if you’re not booked in and they take you around they will get a commission from the guesthouse, we stupidly agreed to pay $4 for our fist tuk-tuk ride, he seemed to go the long way round we later discovered and we should have only paid a dollar each. It was find though and he got us to the guesthouse, we had a standard double booked for 2 nights with bathrooms for $10.

After settling in and being pestered for booking tuk-tuk tours with the hotel staff we went for a little walk in the city and took in the sunset over the Royal Palace. The guesthouse is very conveniently located south Royal Palace and of the main hustle and bustle of the riverfront, down a quieter street with some good choices of restaurants.

We made our way to the market and bought a very sugar laden fruit shake which helped with our current sugar-low state. It was also very filling and did the trick for a while before we got hungry. We stayed out for some food and ate at a very local noodle-street style restaurant, it only cost us a dollar for the two of us so it was nice to have a cheap start.

Back at Sweethome we arranged a tuk-tuk driver for the following day to take us, John and Lisa (John is Jules’s brother and we did the Halong Bay tour with them in Vietnam) to the Killing Fields and The Slung Treng Museum, we agreed a price of $6 each which we again later realised it was more than we should have paid. Anyway you have to figure these things out when you arrive in new places. We’re learning all the time.

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

29th January – Sightseeing in Phnom Penh

John and Lisa arrived at just after 8am and our cheeky choppy tuk-tuk driver was ready and waiting with a tuk-tuk that appeared to be borrowed from one of his pals, they were all joking about the size of it and fitting us all in but it was fine. Perhaps the most amusing thing was that his fuel tank was made from a plastic container!!

It took around half and hour to get to Cheung Ek where the Killing Fields are, arriving early is again better as most tourists start turning up after 9am or so. The entrance fee is $2 per person and we decided to have a guided tour which you pay for based on donation. The area is smaller than we imagined, it was previously an orchard and retains many trees making the area quite serene. The large monument erected for the remembrance of the dead is a powerful reminder of what took place in Cambodia just over 40 years ago! Bones, skulls and clothes which have been found here can been seen, brightly coloured clothes indicated that you were wealthy or educated so therefore you did not stand a chance. Everyone who was brought here by truck was never going to leave!

We were informed by our guide about wooden structures that once stood and what happened inside, from admin to overnight people storage in sealed and dark cells as they couldn’t exterminate them all in one day! Even tormenting them by allowing them to hear the fate of others before their fate was concluded. Pits of mass graves remain and after each rainy season more bones, teeth and pieces of clothes come to the surface of the dirt. You can see pieces sticking out of the ground which makes it all the more real.

Absolutely horrific events took place here to ordinary citizens which makes no sense whatsoever, all in the idea of trying a new political system in order to make Pol-pot a god, produce rice to buy weapons and then spread their influence/extermination far and wide. Even the soldiers who, most of which were brainwashed children, were killed to try and cover up what had taken place.

We left here feeling sombre but with more understanding of the historical events that unfolded. The area is open to educate both foreigners and locals into the history of Cambodia, for people to learn and not let things like this ever happen again. The only downside is that the area is apparently owned by a private firm, maintaining the site but also quite possibly making money from the “tourist attraction” which is wrong and should be funded by the state in our opinion.

Our tuk-tuk driver was waiting for us and we headed off back into Phnom Penh to visit the S-21 prison, used for imprisonment, interrogation and torture of people. This had been converted from a school into the prison camp under the orders of Pol-pot and processed many people who ended up in the Cheung Ek killing fields. Vast empty rooms remind us of the horrors that also took place here along with photographs of victims who were meticulously catalogued and numbered ready for torture and extermination. There are also some written stories from people who are still alive today with stories of their participation in the Khmer Rouge army and their feelings on trial, retribution and the future.

After a sad and truthful morning we went back to grab some lunch at our guesthouse and waited for the Palace to open after their lunch break. We got to the Palace for afternoon opening, Helen wearing a sleeveless top had to cover her shoulders and then we were allowed in. It’s a 5$ entrance fee to the Palace and it is a big site so you can easily spend a morning or afternoon in there, it’s very reminiscent to the Royal Palace in Thailand and has played host to many kings over time, although in the past few decades the royal family have been based in China (or thailand), we heard guides talking of the current king being a monk, it’s always fun eaves-dropping into the tourist groups and making sense from it what we can. Some of the buildings are undergoing renovations; another occurring sight in many cities throughout South-East Asia and China. The main temples and Pagodas are open and the structures are beautifully exquisite in the late afternoon golden light.

We were at the Palace for the main bulk of the afternoon before ending up at one of the markets looking for simples things like sun tan lotion and shampoo, it was difficult finding anything we wanted so ended up going for a drink nearby. After more walking around the city and the sunsetting we found a restaurant mentioned in the LP which served some excellent Khmer food, perhaps a little more pricey and well presented than we were used to but it was good to have something different.

We said our goodbyes to John and Lisa who were moving north in the next few days. We had decided to put our passports in at the hotel for the Laos visas and bought a bus ticket to Koh Kong leaving at 7am the next morning.

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)

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)

As the weather and temperature was so good in Kunming we thought it would be a great chance to hire some bikes and get out and about. We made a packed lunch and hired the bikes from Cloudland Hostel. They were decent mountain bikes and the hostel provided a map and written instructions on a few routes, one of which was a ride to Dian Chi Lake a massive lake in the south of Kunming, which we decided upon.

We arrived at the lake after some 2 hours of cycling, mostly on the highway for the first hour, Dave got some Seagull sick dropped on his head so we decided to head to the park and get away from the flying sick and poop machines and have some quiet time. Lunch consisted of tuna mayo sandwiches, oranges, egg tart and a pastry desert filled with chocolate. We continued on around the park exploring and photographing which was great in the sunshine. After an hour or two of riding around we started to make our way back which takes around an hour.

The Unemployed Life stickers kept making an appearance around the hostel, as well as other destinations that we have visited, so we knew we were following in the foot steps of fellow travellers Will and co who we had met previously in Xi’an.

We needed some supplies for making breakfast cheaper rather than buying hostel/restaurant food all the time. We found a local Walmart superstore and stocked up on cereals, fruit and veg, cans of tuna, noodles and a few cakes! The Walmart is located behind a multi-storey market so you need to walk through to the back of this and you cannot miss the Walmart sign! Afterwards we chilled out at Cloudland, ate some substandard food and packed ready for our trip to Dali the next day.

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

31 today!! Eek!! A far cry from last years fancy dress vintage themed party with all my best mates at Holyrood!! Still being in Beijing was pretty special and we made the effort to go and see some sights for the day. Dave bought me a lovely notebook from the Frank Gehry exhibition shop, I’m always jotting and sketching down thoughts, plans and ideas so it was very warmly received! A Porridge and banana special for breakfast and we were on our way.

We set out for the Beijing Botanical Gardens, inspired by the success of our bus journey a few days ago we attempted to tube and bus it to the site. The lonely Planet were not entirely accurate in providing information as to which bus to get so we ended up on the wrong path. A quick turn around for a taxi and we arrived at our destination. It isn’t perhaps the best time of year to visit the Botanical Gardens as not much is in flower, but we did find some lovely paths out towards a temple and icey lakes to throw stones on. There was a fair amount of ice on the lake and some gorgeous frosty views. Its well out of the city so you do feel far away from the business of central Beijing.

The tropical greenhouse (much larger than your average garden greenhouse!) was a nice place to get warm and enjoy some cactus growing plants alongside more brides and grooms to be having their pre-wedding photographs taken amongst the orchid garden.

On our way back we stopped off for a quick birthday bite at Japanese fast food chain Yoshinoya. A place that didn’t really entice us whilst we were in Japan but is definitely projected as being a more upmarket food chain over in China, interesting! They even had vegetables on the menu! We went back to the apartment and decided to get ready for our night out.

We had very good intentions of going for a massage at Dragonfly, our favourite and slightly self-indulgent massage parlour in Beijing! What stopped us in our tracks however was an hour delay at Xinjeikou metro station, this was so far our favourite stop as there were never as many people using it and it was well located! So we changed plans and head straight for Gouladjie which was only a few stops away, there was a Malaysian restaurant recommended to us around that way that we wanted to go to. We found Cafe Sambal on the left hand side a couple of streets down from the tube stop set in a Hutong area. It’s a little hidden away behind some wooden doors but inside was a very nicely lit ambient bar and restaurant which was packed to the ceiling with locals and westerners…good so far! At the bar we waited for a table and drank mojitos. We love it that you can buy mojitos over here for around £3, I’m pretty sure we’ve had one for as low as £2! The food was very good, although they could do with upping their portions a little! The room was a little chilly where we sat, but having said that the atmosphere was lovely and as far as birthday settings go this was again pretty frickin’ sweet!

After dinner we went for a walk along the street and came across a very cosy little desert cafe. This was enough to entice us in and we sat with our ginger teas, apple cake and chocolate truffles whilst watching the world go by.

Thank you Dave for a lovely day! I think the 30 year plus grumps came across me when I realised I am now past the tender year of 30, which has been a blooming marvellous year so far!

All my love and thanks for all the birthday messages on Facebook.

Helen x

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