Our final post from China. We are soon booked on a 1st class train (with matresses, ac and fake flowers on the table - real luxary at last) for our final journey, back up to Beijing, and then have our flight to Delhi. Our visit to Shanghai certainly has improved our understanding of China, where the country is now, and where they are heading. Shanghai at present reminds us Singapore. Cutting edge, modern, high rise buildings. Clear open parks and fast efficient ...

We've had a busy time travelling around a small corner of China using the trains. We left Beijing and travelled through the day to Datong, famous for some carved caves, and then on to Pingyao. Then to Xian, famous for the Terracotta Army, and finally to Shanghai. These train journey's are quite an experience, and the experiences we've had getting to these sights have often eclipsed the sights themselves. The trains range from a hotel on tracks in the 'soft slee...

I'm writing this from our next country - not this time through laziness, but due to the censorship in China. Blog sites are often not accessible in this controlled society, and you certainly would have to be careful about what you wrote 'just in case'. So, instead I waited, and now I can speak more honestly about our experiences. After Cambodia the pace of travel continued. We returned over the Thai border back to Bangkok, and than got a wonderful sleeper tra...