Monthly Archives: August 2018

Wyles Walkabout

Love Yulong time

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A bit of long update here due to restrictions on accessing my blog from China, can only access social media intermittently and only via VPN.

Transferred from Nathan Hotel in Kowloon to the Yes Inn Hostel at Yu Mai Tai, also Kowloon but only a 5 min walk away. Even so, the humidity at this time in Hong Kong was more than enough to make it uncomfortable. Walking up Nathan Road with my backpack and daypack on, had a huge smile on my face in anticipation of the imminent adventures and I for the first time on this walkabout, felt like I was ‘really travelling’, not just on a holiday or tour.

Eventually I found the hostel and checked in to a 4-bed dormitory. It was clean with a private bathroom but it was small, like most hostels in Hong Kong. I was the first to check in to the room and assumed the others would be on the same tour as me in China, but that was not the case. The beds were small, less than 6ft which meant my feet overhung the end. Being in the dorm brought back memories of travelling 10 years ago which were good and I wondered if it will still have the same vibe, especially after staying in such nice private hotel rooms which I had sort of become used to. It was quite a peaceful night’s sleep, so think I will be able to cope.

Next morning it was an early start to meet the rest of the group in the reception of the hostel, surprised to see only about 5 people. Turns out we would be meeting more later as the trip evolves. Alfred, the local tour leader in Hong Kong is nearing retirement but took us on a little tour to Victoria Peak, up and down The Peak Tram (again for me) and then back to the hostel. If I had of known it was just a short trip, could have squeezed in a couple more hours of sleep.

We left Hong Kong via a series of endless metro / underground trains changing 3 or 4 times to catch the overland train to the border with China at Shenzhen. Immigration took a little while but eventually we got through and caught the bullet train to Guilin, about 3 hours, and then we had a private bus to take us to Yangshuo.

Yangshuo is amazing, if a bit ‘touristy’ but I have never seen anywhere like that, the scenery was amazing. Definitely looks like a landscape from a sci-fi film or game, with thousands of large rock pinnacles in excess of several hundred meters all covered in dense vegetation. Some had small temples at the top, others radio or phone transmitters.

The roads were busy but in an orderly way, nothing like Egypt but perhaps more dangerous because of the electric mopeds which whizzed past almost silently. Arriving after dark, all the shops, stalls and restaurants were lit up with bright coloured lights, people out in the streets in search of dinner or attending one of the many bars with either a resident singer or karaoke on offer, blasting out music at full volume. Virtually impossible here to find somewhere for a quiet drink and a chat. We checked into the hostel that was tucked down a small alley, hidden away near the top of town, aptly named The Hidden House. Again, mixed dorm with an ensuite so all was good.

The following morning we had a Chinese cookery class and the chef / teacher from Cloud 9 restaurant met us at the hostel early and took us to the local market, just 5 mins walk away to collect the ingredients. One of the first things we see is a little stall with water filled buckets on the floor selling live eels, frogs, snails etc and the smell was pretty bad. We got passed that and were in the vegetable market selling all sorts, from the usual things like potatoes and carrots, to things I have never seen and cannot pronounce. Continuing through the market, ended up in the meat section which brought back memories from the medina in Fes. I managed a few minutes in there with the chicken feet, pigs’ heads and ears, and cats and dogs (already dead) being butchered. Once again, it was the vile smell that got the better of me and a few of the others too, so we agreed to meet at the entrance before heading to the restaurant to cook what we had bought. We cooked 4 dishes each, steamed pork dumplings, fried noodles with vegetables, an aubergine dish and a local variation on chicken with cashew nuts, and then we got to eat what we cooked for lunch. The dumplings were fantastic, as were the noodles but I wasn’t overly keen on the aubergine dish and I overdid the chicken with soy sauce so it was a bit salty. In the afternoon, we were meant to go kayaking on the Yulong river (dragon river) but after such a huge and heavy lunch, it was nearly impossible to move, so just headed back to the hostel and had a nap.

In the evening we hit some of the local bars and ended up as this one place which had a snake drink, basically a large jar of an unknown spirit on the bar which was pickling 3 or 4 dead snakes inside. It was only 15 Yuans and tasted more like white spirit. Not to be repeated…

Next day began with a cycle ride, after the event of selecting a bike which fitted me, had working brakes, two wheels and air in the tyres, oh and a basket on the front. It was only a gentle, flat 7 km ride, nothing taxing but the first couple of kilometres were through Chinese traffic followed by a more rural route to the Yulong river.

The scenery was beautiful and I kept wanting to stop and take photos but every time I did, I lost sight of the group and had to peddle fast to catch up again. Here our bikes were loaded onto a truck and we were loaded onto bamboo rafts where we were floated down the river over a few gentle rapids. It was a perfect way to relax and watch the world go by.

After about an hour, we met our bikes again and cycled another 1km to a lunch spot before we had a hike up to the moon palace. The hike started off gentle but soon became very steep, rising over 300m over 1/2 mile. The humidity was so oppressive in the bamboo and jungle but we managed to press on and were rewarded with a view from the natural archway called the moon palace. Thankfully there were little old ladies there selling water and cans of coke. One old dear took pity on me and was fanning me to try and cool me down but I had a couple of bottles of water mixed them with 3 electrolytes to replace all the fluid I had just sweated out. But after about 10 mins, was ready to head down again and the walk down was so much easier than the way up. At the bottom my legs were shaking uncontrollably but that soon disappeared.

Short break, then cycled another 1 km to the Gold Water Caves. These have been formed over thousands of years and all the stalactites are lit with multi coloured lights. It all looked a bit cheap as we walked about 30 mins through them. The best part though, was the mud baths and hot springs inside the mountain. Was able to have a quick shower before getting in the mud, sounds silly, but it was so refreshing. The mud obviously, was cold and muddy. Think it was only about 2 ft deep but it squidged between your toes and was so viscous that as you lay down on it, it supports your weight, similar I imagine to laying on a big bowl of custard, very ‘turdy’. It was nearly impossible to submerge in the mud, but nevertheless I got completely covered and it got everywhere… Another quick shower, well, quite a lengthy shower as the mud stuck and clung and took a while to hose off before we got into the hot springs. It was so nice to lay in the dark cave with natural hot springs and let all the aches and pains from the hike soak away.

Wyles Walkabout

It felt right turning left

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Was glad to get to the airport except for the faff of going through security at Cairo as they give you contradictory information, but you just roll with it. There was a big queue for the check in for the flight to Abu Dhabi but that was for the economy section. I had upgraded my flight so checked in on the no queue business class counter. The flights were Cairo to Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong and I was checked in all the way through so I didn’t have to waste time in Abu Dhabi finding my bags and checking in again which was quite a releif.

After immigration there is another security checkpoint and here I have a lighter in my hand luggage confiscated. Seems odd they confiscate it here, when I have flown London to Marrakech, Casablanca to Cairo, Cairo to Sharm and Sharm to Cairo with it in my hand luggage without any issues. Personally I just think the fat sweaty oaf at security wanted to smoke and needed a light. If I had known, I would have put it in my hold luggage, but it’s only a lighter so no big issue.

The business class lounge was shared by several airlines and was not Etihad specific, but it wasn’t that impressive. I was beginning to regret booking it but at least it kept the riff raff away. Once on board however, I knew I made the right choice. Big comfy seat, plenty of leg room, decent in flight entertainment and good food, including ice cream.

At Abu Dhabi, have about 2hrs before the next flight leaves so just enough time to check into the business class lounge and have a drink, all gratis (well, paid for up front in the price). This lounge looks like what airlines advertise as business class, proper a la carte menu, snacks, free bar, WiFi, massages, showers, WiFi, comfy seating, and a whole load more. This was great. Sadly only had limited time as needed to get to the gate as the pane was boarding. Abu Dhabi is a surprisingly large airport. Boarding the plane the air stewardesses are greeting all the passengers and directing them towards the back of the plane but when it was my turn I turned left into business class, with oversized seats that convert to flat beds, large screen infotainment screens per seat, welcome drinks, hot towels, amenity kits, blanket, pillows, etc. and minimum of 3 windows per outer isle seat! It was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, not the Airbus A380 I was hoping for, but still exceptionally comfortable.

Had an aperitif then a 3 course dinner which was so much better than the food in economy, plus had proper cutler, glasssware etc.

Flying over India at night, above the clouds, I saw spectacular lightning which must have lasted about an hour lighting up the night sky. Was grateful we were flying above it and not through it. It was getting late so positioned the seat into sleep mode and actually had a good few hours sleep.

When I woke up, we had about an hour and half before we were scheduled to land in Hong Kong so just enough time for breakfast and a freshen up before landing.

So it’s the first time I’ve been to Hong Kong, wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Collected my bag and then bought an Octopus card (the same thing as an Oyster card in London) and got the underground to Central and then to Jordan station. My hotel was about a 5 min walk from the underground station but what I hadn’t taken into account was the volume of people and the humidity. It took a little longer to walk than 5 mins but not much more and by the time I reached my hotel (Nathan Hotel on Nathan Road) I was already drenched and could not wait to check in. Very nice lady on reception upgraded my room to one on 11th floor and it is really, really nice. I think because of the jet lag and time difference, despite having a decent sleep on the airplane, I was so tired that I showered and then went to sleep. When I woke up, it was 11.30am (Hong Kong time / 04.30 UK time) and it was overcast and raining. I haven’t seen or felt rain since May!

So the first day I wanted to go to Hong Kong Island but it’s actually raining quite hard and Victoria Peak is shrouded in cloud, so thought I’ve give that a miss and explore locally (Kowloon) instead. Kowloon Park is just a short walk from the hotel, covers 13 acres, has a lake and an aviary. It also has the Hong Kong heritage museum so I called in there to keep out of the rain, but also to escape the humidity.

I was feeling a bit peculiar, probably because of dehydration and not having eaten anything in a day, so needed to find some food. The smells as you walk passed some of the restaurants are fabulous, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, hot meat, and some are utterly stomach churning, usually the drains. But I find somewhere and have some beef noodles with pepper. Thought it best to avoid the ‘black eggs’ or the ‘pork bag’ just in case.

Soon I find myself down on the waterfront where the Star Ferry departs to Hong Kong island. Here there are plenty of shops, designer stores, shopping malls etc. and then I find ‘Garden of the Stars’ which is similar to Hollywood’s walk of fame where they have hand prints of some of China’s famous movie stars. Obviously there is a statue of Bruce Lee.

Next day try and get up early to head over to Hong Kong island. Caught the metro from Jordan to Central and then it was a short walk to The Peak Tram which takes just under 10mins to cover the 0.8mile distance, rising to nearly 400m above sea level.

Frustratingly had to queue for over an hour to get the ticket but I would have sooner done that, than walked it. Once at the top the ticket also granted access to the Sky Terrace where you can get great views, weather permitting, over Hong Kong Bay.

Later in the afternoon, I did something I always enjoy doing when I visit somewhere that has them, is go on one of those hop on, hop off, open topped tour buses that deliver an audio commentary in various language options as you go. The ticket covered 3 routes and includes return Star Ferry crossings, so I did the green route yesterday which covered areas such as Aberdeen and Stanley on Hong Kong island and then caught the ferry back to Kowloon at sunset.

Today I did the red route which covered the business and shopping districts and the blue route which was around the waterfront and Kowloon.

Am feeling pretty hungry right now so about to head out and see what the dinner options are. The hotel has a wide ranging menu but I just don’t fancy ‘poached loofah’ or ‘goose gizzards’.

Wyles Walkabout

Back in Cairo

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After what seemed ages, but in reality was less than 10 days, am back in Cairo again. Most of Cairo is not going to win any ‘pretty city’ awards with its hundreds of thousands of high rise tower bocks squeezed together, looking as if they are from the communist eastern block, only more red-ish brown than grey. Seem to pass endless unfinished buildings but some have their laundry hanging from the windows, maybe just to keep the sun out.

But we get back to the hotel at a reasonable hour, time enough for dinner and a few drinks. Next day was a visit to the Egyptian museum. The building itself looks as if it was an old Victorian railway station with its grand entrance and archways but I don’t think it was.

The museum is spread over two floors and is crammed with items discovered from ancient Egypt, the tombs and temples. There were plenty of sarcophaguses and mummies, statues, alabaster jars, tools, jewellery, daggers, head pieces etc. There was a small hall dedicated to the royal mummies and one hall for Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun’s golden head mask was on display with very strict security and you were not allowed to take any photographs. The mask is made of pure gold, weighs 11kg and measures 54 x 39 x 49cm.

There is a new museum being constructed at Giza, just 2km from the Pyramids. Costing more than US$1 billion, the new museum will be the size of approximately 10 football fields and should open early 2019. Depends on the Egyptian builders… It will re-house and restore some of the country’s most precious relics.

After the museum visit, headed over to Khan El Khalili Bazar, which is basically a market down narrow streets and lanes with stalls selling anything and everything from tourist tat to fridges. It was very similar to the medinas in Morocco and as there was nothing I wanted to buy, mainly because of the amount of travelling I still have left, decided to leave and head back to the hotel. That was easier said than done as the narrow streets suddenly came alive, now very packed with people and each street looking pretty much the same. Eventually found my way and rewarded myself with an ice cream.

Back at the hotel and looking at the tickets, I realise just how many historic sites I have visited in Egypt, all individual and unique. Very difficult to chose a favourite. The Pyramids were great but I was put off because of the amount of hassle you get to buy things. Temple at Karnak was huge and too busy (it took ages to try and get photographs without anyone in the background). Valley of the Kings was fabulous but on the surface looked like a quarry, the treasures were all underground. But I think my favourite was the Nile cruise. Such an iconic thing to do in Egypt.

Final few days in Cairo and I changed hotel to one not far from the Pyramids. In fact, you can see the Pyramids from the pool 🙂 Really not a bad way to end my trip to Egypt but the time has come to move on to country number 3 and I fly to Hong Kong later today. Am really looking forward to Hong Kong and China but also looking forward to the flight in business class on Etihad. Not bad for someone who is unemployed…