Chongqing-this place is rural china and was the starting point of our boat trip down the Yangtze river. We had a couple of days before starting on the river so we checked into the local YHA. We got taken to the traditional Chinese style suite, after mastering the lock (Which was like something out the crystal maze! With a key so big we could barely fit it into our day bag!) We made it inside to the biggest bed we've ever seen. It was a massive wooden four poster ...

So for the 14 hour trip here we decided to save a whole 9pounds and opt for the hard sleepers, bunks 3 people high with no walls and as many people as you could possibly fit in! HA… good nights sleep. Once Richard had finished giving a 3 year old girl evil looks for eating and getting rather comfy on his bed we finally tried to get some sleep. Think we crammed in about 4 hours thanks to the Chinese men snoring, and Chinese women having arguments at 4am! Than...

Our sleeper train here was brill, the soft sleeper beds were better than most of Rich's hostels in Thailand! We had a free pick-up to our hostel where we met Lauren (American) and Rich (Manc) little did we know we'd end up traveling with them for the next week. This hostel was 'hutong' style and we had our own private room with the biggest shower in China…all for just 12pounds a night! That night we had a thorough tasting of ALL the local beers…and vodkas. In...

We had a smooth start to our Chinese adventure; Rich got delayed by 5 hours and then lost his phone in a taxi…so Shelly sat waiting in the train station for 6 hours! We checked into our hostel - The Happy Dragon after many stares from the locals and headed out to explore Wafujing's night food market. This place was unreal with anything you can imagine on sticks! From scorpians to sea horses and pigs willies! It was made even more crazy as it was the 60th...