Day 16

Sometimes you have an idea that seems like a great idea at first, maybe even brilliant, but as time goes on you begin to doubt this idea, until eventually you cancel the idea completely...well I have had one of these ideas, however I have also figured a way to turn the idea into a commitment, thus crossing the point of no return!!

The idea: Cycle from Shengdu to Yunnan and eventually into Vietnam.
The commitment: buy the bicycle before you have a chance to turn back.

I leave tomorrow.........Oh sh*t.

Day 13

Up bright and early to get to Chengdu Panda breeding centre before feeding. A few public busses later and there I was, ready to eat my first panda...just Joking!!!

I will let the pictures do the talking on this one!

The pandas were great, but in my opinion, I preferred the playful nature of the red panda. Although people who know me, know my opinions on animals in captivity (although granted that in this case there isn't much choice).

went back to hostel for lunch but as I found out this particular hostel used to be a factory that went under because the boss ran away with all the money a year and a half ago. So the X-employees decided to protest here today. chairs were flying around, but other than that everything stayed peacefull...sort of.

Day 10-12

10
Well returned from mountain, had drinks with the guys...and ready to leave. Chris and I went our separate ways and everyone else also had their own journeys to pursue.

11
17 hours on the train, on a hard seat (take 2 planks nail them together at 90 degrees, get rid of any sort of leg room, put a heater next to you and set it at full blast, and you have an idea of what a hard seat is like)...but before long, I was trying to explain where I was from and getting food from other passengers...Ok so I have no clue what I was eating but it was great.

12
Arrived in Chengdu. Got to a backpackers, but today is my day of rest (after Hau Shan and train ride, I am lacking in a whole lot of ZZZZ's).

Day 10

The big day has finally arrive, Myself and 4 others are going to ascend Hau Shan, a set of 5 holy peaks, where many Chinese go to see the sunrise. The 2 hour bus journey is as boring as ever, but on arrival you are greeted with a choice of countless restaurants. We ate lunch and relaxed until 5pm, to wait for slightly cooler weather.

The climb up was great, unbelievable mountain scenery with thick forests and sheer cliff faces all over. By 11:30 we had reached the North peak, where we rested for a few hours before traversing Black Dragon Ridge towards the East Peak. And despite the fact that we had one torch between us (and were often separated), we got up to the East peak at exactly 3:30am with no problems, except for one of the Americans who traveled with us...took a bit of a tumble, but nothing serious (although the way he was complaining, you would swear he lost both his legs).

Resting on the North peak, from left: Nui Wei (some local we picked up along the way), Mono (crazy Swiss), Max (Me), Chris (the englishman from Essex) and Nathan (the american).

The entire path is lined with padlocks and red ribbons, attached by visitors to these holy peaks. This is done for good luck.

Day 9

Well another day...another ancient treasure...terracotta warriors, one of the big ones on my list. They were great, you can't help but have respect for the work...or fanaticism that went into this army. Chris and I also went to visit the tomb of Emperor Qinshihuang. The army was constructed for this emperor, to maintain his rule in the after-life...some people just go a little to far!

Went to the train ticket office to buy a ticket out of Xian, for the 29th. Skimming through my lonely planet in the line I made a decision 3 minutes before I bought the ticket. So next stop is Sichuan (Chengdu)....and for those of you who know, yes that's right, it's Panda bear time....well almost , as soon as we get Hau Shan done.

At this point we were a group of about 7. Went to the muslim Quarter of Xian for supper , excellent food, awesome atmosphere, night market selling all sorts of snacks and supplies and restaurants selling a million varieties of spicy foods (and when I say spicy I mean "put the toilet roll in the freezer" kind of spicy). Anyway Xian is awesome at night, went to south gate, where hundreds of people are playing street gambling games (gambling for smokes and beer, etc) and drummers are going mad on the roads as masses form what seems like a giant snake, running around the square, and then suddenly the off key sounds of street Karaoke hit you, but before you can run you are being offered a "really" rollex for only 50 yaun, in one of the hundreds of tiny parks surrounding the Xian City wall....mmmhhh I suppose simply put, life is good in Xian.