Family backpacking to Asia

Melaka

2009-03-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Its taken me sometime to write on the blog. Internet access was pretty limited for the remainder of our time away. However at long last i'm completing this log of events for the children to look back at in years to come. We found a comfortable hostel here in Melaka, the owners and managers made us really feel welcome and even bough the children a chess board to play with. We visited the cinema and watched "Bedtime Stories" which Jay even admitted was a pretty good story although somewhat "predictable".The maritime museum was a good excursion with a replica Portugese vessel with history boards and exhibition inside giving information about Melakas past importance geographically with trading goods with the rest of the world. At one point there was something like 80 languages/ dialects spoken in the area. The City itself seemed to have a magic formula that other places we'd visited didn't possess. It had preseved old buildings and there was a pleasant feeling about the place. We spent hours and a number of changes and walking to get to a themed water park on day. It was thankfully a sucessful day albeit rather dear and again an opportunity to cool off from the heat. We were invited to go with "Stephen" the manager of the hostel to a nearby island. The island was a important place as it had members of one of the 13 royal families' lineage buried here. The mosque was a shrine and visitors flocked there particulary on holidays and weekends to camp on the beach and pray in the mosque. We had been booked in for lunch but didn't realise he had included us in the celabrations attached to the mosque. We enjoyed a Mutton Curry in the open air eaten with our fingers , much to Erins delight.

Transportation

2009-01-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

Well we thought we'd done well arranging transport around Asia for the last three months without any hitches. We spoke too soon. The intended journey from Kuala Selangor to Port Dickson should only have taken 4 hours but circumstances prevailed that it took 12.

Drivers told us it was possible to go to Port Dickson without heading back into Kuala Lumpur itself. We started out very well catching buses with little waiting time. On arriving at a brand new bus station in Klang and told we had a two hour wait we decided to stop for a bite to eat and taste the local delicacies. I was the only one to brave the soup with peanuts in it. We strolled around to the waiting room at a time 30 minutes before our departure has buses have a tendency to turn up very early. The board read that the bus had not arrived yet so we settled into some seats. After sometime i asked security when our bus was expected. Immediately i sensed something was wrong. He then told us the bus had gone and when i glanced at his watch it read one hour later than Jays. Oh dear!! The board doesn't update like other stations when buses arrive and depart and unforunately we hadn't known Jays watch was working in a different time zone, and had been for the last few weeks. The clocks in the station hadn't been put up and we hadn't realised our bus had been and gone as all the announcements we're in Malay. The staff were extremely apologetic and in the meantime the architect even came over for a chat and asked what we thought of the layout. We were quick to point out the operations error that the board didn't function correctly and a lack of a clock in the building. Long and short of it we had to purchase a new ticket with another provider as they were fully booked on later buses.Fortunately it didn't break the bank at 6 pounds for the four of us.

Erins Poem

2009-01-22T22:41:00.000-08:00

My jungle poem

Jungle vines in a tangled mess,
Uneven ground and slippery mud,
Nothing is easy except breaking a sweat,
Going is slow and really hard work,
Level ground is not often seen,
Everything' busy and shiny and green.

By Erin

Kuala Lumpura and Kuala Selangor

2009-01-15T19:19:00.000-08:00

We went up the KL Menara, the tallest tower in Malaysia and 4th in the world.
The lift took 15 seconds to reach the top.
Ieuan and i went in the paddling pool at the back of the Petronas Towers.A little boy cut his chin and we had to do first aid on him, a police lady called a cab to take them to the hospital.

love Erin

We have seen the Petronas towers,the worlds biggest twin towers.We also went to Batu caves which has a hindu shrine. They have a festival every year where selected pilgrims put hooks through their skin on their backs and pull a chariot on ropes 13 km from China town, Kuala Lumpur to Batu caves.That afternoon we visited the craft complex Erin and I did a batik paniting of a gekko. It was great fun, mum thinks it will be good activity for the regatta. Yesterday after arriving in Kuala Selangor we went on a boat to see the fireflies.They were fascinating, they all flash together the male flashes once a second and the females 3 times a second. It was better on the water because we could see them against the darkness of the forest.

Ieuan

Hello All,

Just a quick note to say i've picked up a virus on the memory card so will not be able to upload anymore photos for the time being.We've arrived at a nice nature reserve with plenty of walks.This morning we went to two museums one was about childrens traditional games and the other about the history of the region. We are staying in primitive huts, again plenty of mosquitos around. Erin and I seem to be attacked on a daily basis. If its not them its horrible bed bugs!!!!

Cameron Highlands to Taman Negara

2009-01-11T04:14:00.000-08:00

We had an unplanned day of walking the day before we left Tanah Rata. Having decided to catch a bus and visit a butterfly farm and then walk to the main tea plantation in the area we were unfotuntely abandoned somewhat short of our destination. rather than having a wasted day we stuck with it and started our walk, not quite sure of the distance as all the tourist maps aren't to scale.Some 4km later we arrived at our first point of call - the butterfly farm. We were informed that the buses shouldn't be relied upon and we thought we'd continue uphill to the tea plantation knowing that being a popular destination a ride back home would be easy to obtain as we'd seen many cabs on their way there. We were very much mistaken there were no cabs in sight and for our efforts of hitching a ride, all the locals thought we were being friendly and just waved back.Thankfully Erin kept high spirits and walked all the way back to the main road and completed a round trip of at least 11km - her biggest walk yet. The only tears seen that day was when she was "attacked" by a butterfly.

We are now departing Taman Negara. This is one of Malaysias largest National parks and the size of Luxembourg. We arrived at the main gateway village after 2 1/2 hours. The kids spotted a wild boar drinking from ther river. There is a strong flow and all the longtails here are kitted out with the very latest outboards. Definately not using the advised kill cords if they even have them and certainly not abiding by R.Y.A guidelines of wearing life jackets etc. The village is in great preparation for the forthcoming season which starts from Chinese New year onwards. We came here to do the largest Canopy walkway in the world, which was not a disapointment. The kids raced on while Jay took great enjoyment wobbling the bridge and making me nervous. I wasn't very trusting of the construction having seen health and safety practices in this part of the world, i eyed up their "cow hitches" with great scrutiny thinking i would have chosen a better know to do the job!!! After new year there will be queues of up to 2 hours to get on the rope bridges which take 30 minutes if you take a gentle pace!!!

We met a guide recommended in the Lonely planet book who does tours and decided to doa night Jungle walk last night. Ieuan had already collared him all afternoon picking his brains and we felt rather oblidged to give him some work after all he'd been teaching the children. Ieuan has learnt alot but for example he is able to identify plants which honey can be extracted from and also create your own natural tattoos using fern leaves!! He'll be disapointed to leave although i think the man will be pleased to have some quiet time. The night walk was just as rewarding with finds of caterpillars that turn into fireflies, scorpions, stick insects, moon snails etc and tracks of elephant and barking deer.

Today we took another trail and saw the orang asli (native people) and went to a cave where there we hundreds maybe thousands of bats. Its extremely hot and humid here and after the three hour walk our clothes needed wringing out and we actually appreciated our "cold river" shower. We leave for KL tomorrow another long day and a couple of changes. Hope it all makes sense, haven't had chance to read through, tierd.

Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

2009-01-06T23:35:00.000-08:00

Ieuan and Jay are in their element. Landrovers everywhere!!! Apparently the Cameron Highlands have the greatest concentration of Landrovers outside a British garrison. History - The Cameron highlands where first surveyed by a Brit named Willliam Cameron, hence the name in 1885. There is a English influence here which can be seen in the older buildings. Many mimic the Tudor period and also the Victorian era when the British developed the area as a place for growing Tea. Much of the area is suffering abuse by the locals, mass agricultural development without a good infrastructure has meant many landslips. We took a long walk today, much to Erins displeasure which took us up the valley through jungle. We visited a Bee farm and Jay got stung! We hope to go for afternoon tea at a local hotal for tea and scones. The weight that we lost in China is gradually piling on with all the banana fritters we're consuming. We ahve also been to a strawberry farm and had delightful strawberry.

Erin is writing a poem about the jungle and wants to write a sentence

Hi class, I have been on a jungle walk today.

I'll try and get her to write more later as shes keen on exercising her creativity with words and drawings. maybe i'll post the finished product for you all to be AMAZED at the talent!!!!

Ipoh

2009-01-06T01:18:00.000-08:00

We went to the Lost World of Tambun it was great fun it was a big pool and it had lots of slides. Half way down dad and I fell of the inflatable ring that you sat in to go down it.The park was themed like the Aztec world and made to look like a old tribes city.It was set in a limestone region and there was a stack which was 400 million years old.The notices said no clothes but every one did as they were Muslim and the women don't show their bodies. Mum got some looks with her bikini!!! Even funnier was the fact it rained all day but it was fairly warm so it was fine. Ieuann

Incidentals

2009-01-04T00:59:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have no mobile use again. All communication will have to be via email.

Our experiences of food are getting more interesting by the minute. Yesterday bought an ice cream, what appeared to be a strawberry. However on unwrapping it and taking a big bite we discovered it was "red bean", whole frozen red beans. We also have had an interesting zingy apple lolly with a chewy centre.

Kelloggs or for that matter any brand name we are used to at home doesn't taste anything like the ones here!!

Hair cuts. Erin had a lovely chinese hair cut.In Thailand i asked for a "trim" but there was obviously a break down in communication and i came out looking like "Prince William" according to Jay. Jay also had a scary experience and literally had a close shave, and felt as if he'd lost his ear and top lip while a dodery old man gave him a cut throat shave (dry on a months growth), second and last shave of the whole trip.

Langkawi

2009-01-04T00:46:00.000-08:00

Despite our initial disapointment with the hotel. We sucessfully hired a car for two days. Unfortunately i drew the short straw and drove whilst Jay did the navigation ( which we all know is his pet subject). We went to the cable car which has a grandient of 42 degrees and the longst single span in the world,(which made it rather wobbly) I felt like sitting on the floor which would of course have been no good whatsoever but i wasn't paricularly comfortable with the situation. There was a fantastic view of the island from up there and to top it off there was a sky bridge, a single arm suspension bridge between two peaks and amongst the clouds. We then came across seven wells which was a waterfall with seven pools where you could swim. The kids stripped off and played,sliding down the smooth rocks for most of the afternoon.The following day we went to a crocodile farm. Health and Safety was non existent but it made for a entertaining day!!! We caught all the best parts and made a quick departure. Unfortunately we didn't trust rusty standard chain link fencing between us and an 18ft croc. We then struggled to find a beach which was clean, however ended up at a small local beach where we spent afternoon dodging monkeys.
We then departed for mainland Malaysia with no fixed plan other than to have a change of scenery.

Hat Yao, Trang

2008-12-30T02:22:00.000-08:00

Hi all, Just updating the blog as we've been without internet access for a few days.Can't give all the details as i'd be hours but i'll fill you in a bit. We arrived in Traang ad caught a bus to a sleepy muslim village (Hat Yao) for Christmas. It was completely deserted. Everything we ordered from the local restaurant they were out of stock. We didn't take it personally and persevered living on Mixed fruit and Green curry for a couple of days. Christmas day was spent on a beach that we waded to. We had it to ourselves and we were happy beachcombing all day. The children met some local children and played a thai game which is like a haci sac, keeping a bamboo ball in the air and passing between players. We hired a relative to take is by part long tail, part canoe to a cave which used to be used by pirates to store their treasures. It no longer has anything there but i believe is quite an attraction still. We clambered up rickerty ladders and saw fantastic stalagmites , stalatites and even bats.We then used the canoe later to return to our beach and do some snorkelling. Then...... suddenly the day we left the village came alive and people arrived. Many Thais visit for the weekends and as they had a break over christmas they all desended with tents to camp on the beach. Food was starting to be delivered to the restaurant, and the worst of it all was we were leaving. The Thais have little respect for their environment and left their rubbish behind despite the national park signs. We have seen huge rats in Thailand, one even reminded us in Bangkok that we were going the right way to return to our guesthouse!!!Anyway we travellesd down to Satun and yesterday arrived on the island of Langkawi, Malaysia. We are slightly disapointed as they have decided to maintain the pool in peak season which was the whole reason for us staying there!!! I'm getting hungry so will sign off. Happy new year to you all, Love H x

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!!

2008-12-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

It may be a few days before i next log on. I hope you all have an enjoyable time over the christmas period. This is just a general note as Erin has gicen you an idea of what we've been doing over the past few days. Ieuan we think will be preparing a disertation of pavements in South east Asia as we seem to be constantly reminding him to look around at his surroundings. Erin has had a spate of losing stuff, and very nearly lost the school bag with their diaries in.Ieuan managed to loose his flip flops out of the bus door as they don't close them to keep fresh air circulating through. We're off to a park today. Love to you all, H x

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-23T19:23:00.000-08:00

Hi Class,I hope you are all well. Merry Christmas and a happy new year.Hope your holidays are going well. We have been on a canal boat to visit the royal barge museum which is the royal boats for special occasions. They were orignally for battles but in peacetime are now preserved and rarely used. We also a temple which housed a reclining buddha which was 46m long. Love Erin xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bangkok

2008-12-22T19:20:00.001-08:00

After a short train journey from Ayutthaya we arrived in Bangkok and strolled around to find a guest house. We are a short distance from the station and despite ity being a little dear we have lovely facilities and free tea and coffee. H

Hi Class,

I am enjoying my holiday but i miss being with you. I have had a really good time in Thailand and i been to the snake farm which was fun. love from Erin x

Ayutthaya

2008-12-22T19:08:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we took a bus from Kanchanaburi to Ayutthaya (the old capital).We stayed a few days as we wanted to see some stone temples. We hired a tuk tuk for three hours and visited the ones off the island which would be difficult to each otherwise as public transport wasn't as straight forward as other places we'd been. We were very fortunate as there was a festival on celebrating Thailands history and success over Burma. It was a reinactment of the battles which took place.The streets were packed and there was folk music being played on stages throughout the city. We managed to buy tickets to the main show which featured Elephants and horses. The setting was in one of the main temples and it had a similiar atmosphere to what we get at the Shakespearian plays set in castles. It was extremely realsitic with the Elephants battling each other and throwing actors about. Overall it was very visual and noisy. Kids thought it was fantastic!!Have photos to upload again but its a time consuming process so when we have a quiet period i'll post them.

Hua Hin

2008-12-17T03:01:00.000-08:00

We have seen Brian, a family friend and had an ice cream in Hua Hin.
We are now in Kanchanaburi.We came on the train and have found a guest house which is very nice we have got a bamboo house. Ieuan and I have to share a bedroom. We have a mosquito net. We went to the World War 2 museums and learnt a lot about how the Japanese forced the POWs to build a railway into Burma. We saw one cemetary which had at least 1000 British troops headstones but there were many more grave stones for the Australians and Dutch who also were captured and died.We also saw the famous Bridge over the River Kwai which Mum and Dad said they would let me watch a film which tells the story.

love Erinxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hua Hin

2008-12-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Hua Hin this morning at 6.30 after a restless night. We have seen a market which sells more handmade goods. We meet up with a family friend for lunch tomorrow which will be nice to see a friendly face. This is a stop over before heading off north again. Probably hit the beach and relax a little

Phuket

2008-12-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

To all in Neyland,

I have hade a very good experience we have hired a motorbike
and have been to the Tsunami beach where there has been some new buildings being constructed.We have seen a buddha but this one is still being built and hasn't been painted yet. It had a little museum telling the story of how they built it. We also saw some of the moulds which we're used to make it.We thank fully didn't have t climb any steps to reach this one!.There were monks in a temple blessing people like the vicar does at commmunion but they shook something like talcum powder over the people. We even found a Tesco and bought some western snacks for a picnic. We have bought a snorkle and have been very lucky to see some tropical fish in the rocky areas of the beach.We leave for Hua Hin tonight by overnight coach but it can't be any worse nights sleep as we have been four in a bed for most of the holiday!!!

love from Erin xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

White water rafting and Elephant treking

2008-12-09T04:30:00.000-08:00

Today we went in a long tail boat to a beach accessible onlie by water.The water was crystal clear and i rented a mask and storkel.We found a few fish too.Yesterday we went Elephant treking and white water rafting and i sat on the head of the elephant. Ieuan

Krabi

2008-12-07T04:34:00.000-08:00

We've had a good day at a buddist temple. Climbed 600m (1237 steps to be precise) and got a good view despite the misty conditions. We saw some spectacular limestone caves where monks live and there are some shrines.The children were pleased to see a scorpion and turtle in their natural habitat. If you remember the James bond film "Man with a golden gun" that gives you an idea of the landscape. Excursions and taxi fees aren't as cheap as what the Lonely Planet guide states but we've treated ourselves to a day outing white water rafting and elephant treking tomorrow. Probably the only opportunity we'll get seeing as we aren't able to travel north due to the time constraint that has been forced on us as a result of flying to Kuala lumpur. Kids have been bickering quite a bit (nothing unusual you might say) but i guess the fact they are restricted is showing and we'll head to a beach and have a few days where they can let off some steam.

Krabi seafront is pretty ordinary. Its a muddy creek but there's many longboats taking tourists to the mangroves and down the river to Ao Nang. We are going island hopping for the next few weeks and then back to Langkawi for the new year as we had planned and have booked a hotel.

Still clueless where we'll be for Christmas as everything i'd planned has gone out the window. Won't be worth travelling up towards Bangkok as its such a trek and expense when we have to come south again. Compensation is that Meals cost about 5 pound for the 4 of us. Its not worth doing packed lunch unlike China which was surprisingly dear. Food here and Malaysia is also a lot tastier from what we've experienced so far. Accomodation is very easy to come by, although its high season there are very few tourists because of the economic crisis affecting many countries. We are having to share a queen size bed at present but its only osting 400 baht about 8 pounds.

krabi

2008-12-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

Hi class we are in krabi now it took 12 hours in all! 2 hours in a big crowed just to get through imigration it was really hot and i got a bit upset.
we got passed and are now in thailand . last night we went out for dinner and it was really heavy ,but warm rain.(monsoon)
today we are planning some trips,maybe we are doing horse riding or Elephant treking. Mum also needs a hair cut!!!

Penang, Malaysia to Krabi, Thailand

2008-12-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

hi evry one.i am in penang now we have been swimming to a littel island and i saw a monitor lizrad.we walked a bit of a junggel and saw a snake a littel black lizard and monkeys but do not trust them beause thay stole a water botel from our bags then started trying to drink it at this point my dad got his ginger rage so he got a stick and shooed it away but the monkey showed its big teeth and whent mad and sat on my sisters clothes and scrached its bum lol!

Next Destination?

2008-12-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

Sorry i haven'tupdated the blog, we've been exhausted and access to the internet has been rather difficult to find.We arrived at Shanghai airport ready for our flight to Bangkok under the impression we would be redirected due to the demonstrations however only to be told that our flight had been cancelled. The airline were not helpful in the slightest and with our visas running out for China, we had no alternative other than to purchase another flight. Options were limited but to cut a long story short we ended up flying to Kuala Lumpur. We've now headed north to Penang which is near the boarder and rented a beach Chalet for a few days recooperation.Transportation to Thailand is limited as everyone else is in the same predicament but with luck tomorrow we hope to get a mini bus to Krabi, 6 hours away. This at least is some compensation for the moneyspent on visas etc.We will have to travel back south again for the accomodation already booked over new year.We visited a national park yesterday, met some wildlife some friendlier than others. Monkeys took advantage of raiding our bags whilst we were in the water and got pretty aggressive when we tried to stop them. We had a 2 hour walk through rainforest to get to the beach so we weren't particularly impressed when they stole our water. Eating out is very cheap and their are many more westerners here not as good an opportunity to learn the language.The weather is hot and humid here, much more comfortable from about 6pm onwards.

Hangzhou

2008-11-26T17:11:00.000-08:00

We have had a relaxing couple of days here. We hired a bike and the children rode chinese style sitting side saddle on the parcel carrier. It was a rather hair raising experience. I have had a touch of the flu and everyone else has a cough. We leave for Shanghai later today and stay with a friend for 5 days. Bangkok is looking very unstable so the next few days we will have to take advice and see hat the plan of action wil be.....

food in china

2008-11-22T02:14:00.000-08:00

We have seem some strange food in China like dog, squashed pig face, bird on sticks and pigs feet.Some of these are packaged for a snack.I have tried the baby bird on a stick as a man bought Erin and I one but Erin didn't want it so i had to have two.We got some honey comb which looked like it hade dug up from under some moss.The fruit is often twice the size than we get at home and it looks a lot fresher too.Many of the street stalls sell bambo which is chewed for flavour.Food is also served on sticks.We have found crabs,scorpions,squid,fish,potatoes and even sweet corn. Some are not so nice tasting. We have found a few supermarkets and been able to buy packed lunches, this has been mostly successful despite everything being packaged differently. Ieuan

Class Mr Bowen

2008-11-21T00:02:00.000-08:00

I have been doing a lot of walking in the last couple of days and i have learnt some Chinese.It is very good where we are now, it has boats that you push along with a stick!.We went over a bridge that was very thin with no railings and there are some stepping stones across the river as well as the bridge.There is a river side market and there was a dog that was very very cold, it was sitting next to 2 kettles
to keep warm.
Dad and i went for a walk and we saw a dead rat that was 20cm long without the tail.
An old lady came up to us and said she wouls dance if we gave her half a yuan (Chinese currency) equal to 5p to us.We spent 7 hours on a train and a lady sat next to me and taught me some more Chinese.
"She- u -she" is thank you and "boo- youang- sher" is no thank you.
If Conner or any other class members want to speak to me on msn you can. If you dont have an account you can always make one. Add me to your friends list ,my name is ieuan.w@hotmail.co.uk

Ieuan and Erin will post back the work they have done once we leave China. The postal service is exceptionally expensive

To Class 3/4 NM

2008-11-20T23:30:00.000-08:00

To Class.
Thank you for my lovely message. We've been on two types of trains.
They were both hard sleepers.
Most people have what we call pot noodle.
The food is really good.
I hope you have a good Christmas play, I will miss watching you.
I think you will be really good.
I have to go now, have a good christmas play.
lots of love Erin. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 27 x from me.

Erin has been very conscientious with her work Miss Moir. Her diary is looking very interesting with lots of labels and tickets from all the activities she has done. Her chinese vocabulary is getting pretty extensive although her confidence isn't there to the same extent as Ieuan, who has shown a real flare for languages and engages in all the dealings with the locals.

Fenghuang

2008-11-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

Firstly my apologies to all those who have emailed and i have not given a lengthy response. We have found access to the internet is intermittent and i spend much of my spare time booking accomodation.Also to those who have aol accounts for some reason the mail is not being delivered.We have so much to tell i wish i had more time. We took a chinese passenger/tourist boat to see what they consider to be worthwhile doing instead of a posh cruise. However the chinese boats were pretty basic and the standard cabin would make most people shudder to think what third class would be like. Western style toilets are extremely rare but it doesn't seem to bother them in the slightest. The norm is to have a shower directly above the sqwat toilet and it feeds most likely directly into the street judging by the smell. The scenery at points along the YangTze was spectacular but unfortunatly the chinese have little respect for this awesome river as they persistantly throw their rubbish in the water from the boat when there were facilities to dispose of it on board. We ate on the boat, i did look at the kitchen before hand but didn't tell anyone as they probably ouldn't have touched anything otherwise. The Food hygiene and health and safety culture hasn't yet affected China.

I booked a hotel in yichang end of the cruise as we were all in need of a shower after three days!! We then had another long train journey 7 hours to Jishou and bus (1 hour) to Fenghuang. Yet again I can't get over how well the children have travelled. They were both woken at 9.30 and we had a 20min walk to find our hostel, which was pretty dire. We were particulary cold last night, no hot water and when J found cockroaches in his socks this morning we made a quick exit. The kids are looking a little run down but Nats remedies will hopefully do the trick!!! combined with a rest in this charming village will hopefully give them time to recharge after a busy few weeks. We have had to do some laundry today as we were down to the last pair of pants and socks, unfortuantely the weather is rather parky and it looks as if it might be a few days before it dries. I've sucessfully uploaded some photos but haven't had time to label them, but they'll give you a picture of what we've done and seen.There are many street vendors everywhere, all selling the same products. They always seem to group together and you go to a pariticular district to buy whatever it is your after, ie tools, clothes, food etc. Kids have been rather interested at the markets where you can pick and choose the meat you want to have killed to order.

We have not been very sucessful in restuarants, much of what we ordered has been pretty disgusting. The British interpretation of what the Chinese eat is very different. Many of the hostels report "Chinese food only tastes good outside China" and we would mostly agree with that comment. Noodles are swimming in a broth and they use any cut of meat (usually with the bones left in. Had written much more but system keeps crashing. will post this and try and write more next time.

Chongqing

2008-11-15T00:50:00.000-08:00

Our hostel in Xian was very welcoming but we have moved on.Thank fully someone handed in our photo card just before we departed so we came away a lot more positive as it had put a downer on our time there thinking there were untrustworthy charaters in our company. The children met their first friend, who is travelling with his parents throughout Asia for at least a year. We have arrived in Chongqing without any hitches or sickness!!!. At Xian train station last night We quede politely as the brits do. However without any choice we were soon being pushed into what was like a cattle barracade funnelling us thorugh the ticket barrier. Kids were a little alarmed as they though we were going to be split up. We were fortunate to have four beds last night so a comfortable night was had all. The children always seem to behave when it really matters thank goodness. They met a nice Chinese boy who has been travelling across China last few days and have picked up a bit more of the language。 The hostel here is brand new so we've enjoyed a shower。 Won't be logging in for the next few as we will be on the Yangtze cruise。

2008-11-13T01:40:00.000-08:00

hi class.we went to see the terracotta warriors thay have found 3 pits with about 6000 of them so far thay think there could be 22 pits left to find.
the great wall was very impressive because it goes all over china across mountains.
today i met a french boy called Harold.thay said thay whent to a pub and thay had to order what ever thay could read but thay said the wrong thing and ordered 'dog' and then had to watch some one kill a dog and wash it in the river.
tommrrow we are on a over night train to chongquing to go on a 3 day trip on the yangtze river,we will be going through the '3 gourtges' and seeing the worlds biggest buddha.

To class 3/4 NM

2008-11-13T01:07:00.000-08:00

To class I really miss you I Have hade a really good time.
Everyone takes my photograph and i don't like it.
I have been sick.
The toilets are funny because you have to crouch down and put paper in a bin.
We have met a French boy today.
We leave tommorrow for Chongqing on daddies birthday.
Its 14 hours on a night train.
The Terracotta Warriors are really nice but they haven't dug up all of them. It was better than i expected.I had lunch on a bench and mum let us have a sausage on a stick. It was really tasty. I like China because its got lots of beautiful and colourful gifts.It is nearly Daddies birthday and I am looking forward to it. We are going to see the lights illuminating the water fountain in the dark cold night.
We have been enjoying ourselves everyday, the people are very friendly and I have met some cute Chinese children so far.

2008-11-11T01:57:00.000-08:00

Difficult day today!! Photos were stolen in the process of me uploading them onto the computer. No record of first week, but hey if thats all that happens, never mind. We are somewhat disillutioned witht the china we have seen so far. Unfortunately being westerners we are constantly targeted by beggers and hawkers. Very sad. On a plus point we have found a good hostel and intend on staying an extra night while we decide our next destination.We went to the drum and bell tower today and stumbled across a muslim quarter where there were some interesting gifts and foods for us to check out.We hope to rise early and go the the warriors tomorrow!!Would like to get out the cities for a bit and seee the real countryside.Thanks to all of you who have emailed, keep them coming. love H x

2008-11-11T01:50:00.000-08:00

hi class.i have been to beijing to see the forbidden city and the great wall of china.i am now in a hotel in xian that has no roof in xian there is the terracotta warriors there are 1000s of them on display and many to be dug up.all the terracotta warriors are man size.i have seen many beggers on the street.

Xian

2008-11-09T18:16:00.001-08:00

Some what bleary eyed we arrived at Xian this morning at 7am.The hard sleeper was cosy to say the least. Despite music going on until late evening and people jostling to find somewhere to sit and cook their evening meal we were pleasantly surprised by the experience which we had been dreading.The children got a good nights sleep and judging by the thickness of the mattresses here its looking hopeful for the next few days. They've even a travellers cafe which serves westerners food, where we've all devoured an english breakfast. We had to relent yesterday and have a Mcdonalds as the children weren't eating and beginning to look rather pale. Ieuan on the way to the train station last night in Beijings rush hour decided to bring it all up.

We're off to the terracotta warriors probably tomorrow after we've checked the city walls out. Its cooler today about 12c and pretty smoggy of what i saw earlier this morning. Internet access is free so the kids will write their news later today

2008-11-08T03:59:00.000-08:00

We have had a restful day today. Yesterday we climbed the great wall at Mutianyu. It was somewhat spoilt by the hawkers. The chinese appear to be pretty poor at preserving the heritage sights we've visited so far. Expanding foam seems to be a favourite. Having difficulty accessing certain sites in the internet there seems to be restrictions and to top things off no usb ports to upload my photos at present. so watch this space!!! we have had a quiet day todat catching up on homework and trying to slow the pace down and make some food the kids will eat.Ventured out to the local supermarket today that was an experience, but Ieuan was pretty impressed as we purchased some enormous shrimps even though we thought they were tiger prawns.Hate to think how big their going to be!! We've so much to tell but can't fit everything in with the time i'm allowed and with kids needing entertaining. anyway i'll sign off and when we get to next destination. We catch night train to Xian tommorrow, thats going to be another one to remember as we could only get tickets for two upper bunks in a hard sleeper.!!!!

First Full Day

2008-11-05T04:27:00.000-08:00

After a restless night due jet lag we are now getting in the swing of things. We had a good start and took a bus to the hub of Beijing without much difficulty. The people are so friendly and eager to help, or certainly pratice their English. We indeed have learnt some easy phrases.

For having had the Olympics it seems as though there has been an attempt to sign up main attractions. But the Lonely planet quide has been a real asset, Thx to Milli and Robin. There are people employed to take the plastic out of litter bins and sweep the floor, man bus stops and every corner there are at least two police officers or army personnel. We have found the people to be extremly friendly but also very pushy. trying to make a sell at every opportunity. We have unknownly masted the look to drive the price down but haven't seen anything we've needed as yet.

We have been on a ricksaw tour of Hutong and learnt about the hierarchical system which is still in place today.This area is as Erin said the oldest part of Beijing, dwellings amongst little alleyways which even today is where the poor live and cramped conditions 1 family have a room of 10 square metres and have to share a shower and toilet with up to another 10 families.

Everywhere is litter free but it is extremely grubby looking, the smog isn't as bad as it can be but you can hardly see any distance. Crossing roads is promblematic as it looks like a free of all, all they do is honk there horn. There's no cycle helmets or belts required. Bicycles have the right over everything else. Internet access seems to be fine so i hope to upload some photos in a few days.

We have seen some funny sights too, all the children of toilet training age where crutchless pants. The toilets are one to avoid unless absolutely necessary, especially the public ones, jay tells me there is no door.

We are going to the Forbidden City tomorrow now we have our bearings.
We leave for Xian on an overnight train Sunday.

to class

2008-11-05T04:15:00.000-08:00

to class, i miss you all very much. the school toilets are much better than what we've seen of the Chinese ones. Today we went to Jingshan park and Tianeman square. We had a ricksaw tour around Hutong, the oldest part of Beijing. There are many poor families living there and up to 10 families may have to share a toilet and shower. I have had a very good time but i'm a little homesick. from Erin x

Ni Hao

2008-11-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

"Hello" We've arrived. Good flight, kids managed a couple of hours of sleep at the most but seem to be holding out okay. Found the hostel without any difficulties. For those that had the holiday phone number its not working. Will write more after we've got our heads down and got something to report.

Almost time

2008-10-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

We travel up to Heathrow on Sunday and fly out to Beijing on Monday 3rd November. I'm particularly anxious now its so close to us going. Having a week at home with kids on holiday has probably done it!!! Heavens knows what 3 months of each others company is going to be like, we'll find out soon enough. All jokes aside i'll be pleased to get going now, its been so long in the planning.

The weather looks fairly mild given that it can be pretty chilly there at this time of year, 17 degrees c sounds okay. Anyway give us till the end of the week and i'll try and post some photos with news.

2008-10-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Erins message

2008-09-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hello ,i am really excited about going away but i will miss all of you.
I am looking forward to seeing the Terracotta warriors.
I am also looking forward to trying new sea food.

ieuans message

2008-09-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

Hello. I am really excited to be going to China. They eat with chopsticks, it will take me a while to get use to it. They dont hire cars so we will be on bikes or walking around the cities, lol my sister will find that hard. Well a bit hard.It will be very cold when we get there.

I can't wait to go to Thailand to eat as many tiger prawns as i can eat ummmmmmmmmm. I can't wait!

2008-09-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hello All,
This is our blog!! Having just sent out some invites to it, i might explain first that i'm getting to grips with it and hope tailor it over the next few weeks. The reason behind having it, if you didn't already know is that we are going away for three months. We leave in November first stop China than moving onto Thailand and Malyasia. We want to make it easy for the kids to read and send messages to you all!! I hope that you will keep us up to date with all your news, especially as some of you are expecting children whilst we are away.
We are all somewhat in a dream world at present but its only 7 weeks off now before we go.
Hx