After China, two things hit me hard about Laos. The first is the freedom of religious expression. There are almost no visible places of worship in China outside of Beijing and a few Buddhist monuments in Kunming. In Laos, shrines appear as frequently as they did in Catholic Poland, but these are either to spirits or Buddhist in nature. Second is the lack of infrastructure development. The roads are almost all dirt tracks, with little concrete in sight. There is ...

Our last stop in China was again necessitated by proximity to the border. Unlike Chita though, Kunming was a very pleasant city that was easily accessible to tourists. We saw a few international tourists here too and as there are many sights nearby, including Shangri-La, we could understand why. We had a mere day here so got to walk around the city. There were a lot of building works going on but otherwise the city was very green and pretty. Currently the only w...

Our one bit of time outside the bustle of a city in China was in Yangshuo. This resort town rested in beautiful mountainous countryside, each karst covered in lush, green forests. The view outside our balcony was so wonderful we found it hard to get out and explore our surroundings. We have picked up the pace recently and this was a real chance to rest in one place for a while. The weather was pleasantly warm (20C), with gorgeous sunshine throughout so we were b...

To anyone who is not fussed about pandas we would recommend a trip to Chengdu. Although the panda is a flagship more than a keystone vulnerable species the panda research centre cannot fail to win you over. It's clean enclosures without bars allow you to see relaxing pandas close up without feeling like you may be stressing them out. They are so cute, especially the 5 baby pandas we were blessed to see (some years there are no baby pandas, this year there are mor...

In 2018, we went to Beijing for my brother's wedding. Due to school holidays, we were only able to spend six days in the capital but we really enjoyed ourselves. We wanted to return and this was one of the major driving factors in this land-based adventure. There was therefore a lot of anticipation for our arrival, but upon reaching our destination, the last place on our journey that we will have visited before, we found ourselves missing the family that we shar...