Ni hao ma?! Only a few more days of adventures in Chinaland left! Nooo! I'm not quite so sure how I feel about it. I have had such an awesome time out here...with so many adventures. Some days I don't want it to end. Some days, I feel slightly ready to go home and see loved ones again. Sometimes I want to run right back to the academy...sod the aches and pains! Sometimes I have, admittedly (mum can testify), been caught saying I hate it! Hehe. But only when I've heard 20 people hawking up in front and behind of me, when I've had cigarette smoke blown into my face as an elderly, crusty man coughs without covering his mouth, when I've been nearly pick-pocketed, when I have been jostled, pushed and shoved a thousand times in one day, and when the luggage attendants don't understand not to bend my wretched dao, even when I am jumping up and down like a madwoman and gesticulating wildly (and rather frustratedly). I mean, what part of: "Noooo!! Wo bu yao! Mei you bend!!! Jigga bu hao! Stop!!!!" , when I am waving my hands madly, can they possibly NOT understand??? Other than that...it's been totally AWESOME. And highly amusing. Wo shi huan Zhong guo! (On the whole) After panda and terracotta fun, mum and I treated ourselves to a reflexology knee and foot treatment and a traditional Chinese pedicure, respectively. Hehe. The results of my "traditional Chinese pedicure" were highly amusing. The guy was lovely, and got out some rather old skool instruments of torture. He cut my toenails with a knife-like bade...so I thought I was gonna end up with beeyowtifully shaped nails. He also got rid of an awful lot of Shaolin induced...er...roughty stuff on the soles of my feet, which was good. But when I looked at my toes (thru my new flexibility)...I just had to laugh out loud. It looked like I had bitten my nails...they were so crooked and wonky. Mum was in hysterics too. Ah well...it was less than 3GBP...so what can you expect! He was a nice chap tho, and thoroughly excited at discovering my staff and dao and hearing about my Shaolin experience. We then got an afternoon train on a hard seat to Luoyang. It was sposed to be around 5 hours...but it turned out to be more like 6.We were sandwiched between what appeared to be a huge family with highly hyperactive small children. (Tho in truth, these people had probably never met beforehand). It was amusing...but the lil' voices got a bit shrill towards the end and the kids started to literally swing from the rafters (literally), so I was glad when we arrived at our destination. Now...the place I had booked for us to stay at promised an "authentic" experience. And that we got! The master of the house was this super friendly, if slightly bonkers man, who spoke very little English, and with whom we communicated mostly via Yahoo's online interpreter (which was the source of much merriment during our time there). We stayed in a typical Chinese apartment block, on the very outskirts of the city, on the top floor (no lift). It was "real" China living and great. He was so fun and kind and helpful. Just him, his son, and some other random guy living there. We have pics of them. We went to see the Longmen Grottoes, quite rightly a Unesco World heritage site and the White Hrse Temple (argued to be the first ever Buddhist temple to have been built on Chinese soil). Both were highly interesting, even if I did sweat out at least1.5L of water on the Longmen caves day. Phewee! Then we made our way on a sleeper train to Pingyao, in Shaanxi province. Mum had asked me prior to us boarding the (delayed) train whether she would need her travel sheet. Naturally I replied that it wouldn't be necessary, as "these sleeper trains are generally very nice mummy! You get clean, white sheets and a clean duvet and pillow, and they are well ventilated from the ceilings and and and..." Oh my life! This train 6117 (or whatever it was)was THE filthiest thing I am yet to travel on. Ewwweeee! The floor was mu-filted-to the max. The toilets were yukky. The H2O ran out so you couldn't wash your hands. The sheets were a shade of "beige" shall we say. And the piece de resistance had to be the "cover" you were given...a towel (which I have come across)...but instead of being clean-looking...it was filthy looking. And there was no a/c, so we had a crusty, dusty fan and the windows wide open,so it felt like your head was bouncing along on the tracks. Sorry mummy! Last time she listens to me!! Hehe. We did see the amusing side of it tho. Pingyao is lovely. A bit crusty and dusty...but real! It's proper film-set like. We're staying in a Ming Dynasty place...with loads of courtyards and HEAPS of character...right in the centre of things. I love it! Tho we did have to change rooms on the first night, cos there was no a/c remote, and the staff proceeded to show us how to turn it on and off (no modification of temperature possible) by placing a 4ft stool on a 4ft bed and flailing their arms about wildly, balancing precariously. Hehe. Mum put her foot down at that point, envisaging late-night-half-asleep catastrophes. Hehe. We've seen some lush buildings...AND there are martial arts connections! This place used to be the central hub for monetary transactions in China...so they needed people to protect the dosh...and they were all super martial artists. So I thoroughly enjoyed this part, and seeing weapons and pictures and striking poses :) One day left and then we are off to Datong (reportedly one of THE most hideous places in China) to see the hanging monsatery and some cool caves. We'll be getting a sleeper in, getting the funk out on a tour, and then fleeing that very same evening, bound for Beijing. We are NOT, repeat, not staying there. Espesh not if it's like that Huaihua place I escaped from with Mon ti! Hehehe!
Lots of love and stuff and hope to see you soon! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx PS. This pic is not mine...just incase you were wondering. Net is too shakey to upload any...and you have to have one to do your blog...sooo thisone looked pretty. I have been there tho...tis in Guilin (nr. Yangshou) Pia: Canny find a fridge magnet for lurve nor money...Any other request in case I can't find one? Tex' me hif you cyann tink one upp xxx