Had a breakfast at KFC in Hangzhou station and then got on the transfer bus to Moganshan. Most of the seats were taken but managed to find a spot up front, unfortunately there was zero leg room so ended up sitting sideways for a couple of hours.
After about 40 mins of city traffic, the scenery started to change and become more green and rural with steep winding roads, bamboo forests, and the occasional house or business. Really surprised just how picturesque this area of China is. The roads became steeper and windier and it wasn’t long before we arrived at the Howoo Life Hostel in Moganshan. It was a sort of ‘eco lodge’ with lots of bamboo – the obvious material given the quantity around here but the beds were so comfortable, or maybe it just felt that way after a night train and two hour bus journey with no leg room. The good news is the lodge had prepared welcome cocktails for us which was really nice and unexpected. Had an early dinner and bizarrely they had a a big projector television so we watched a Harry Potter film.
Next day we collected our mountain bikes at the hostel and our guide lead the way.
Fortunately most of the cycling was downhill but after recent rains, it was wet, humid and as little muddy. We were meant to cycle to the blue lagoon but apparently they are building a luxury resort next to it so there was no access. Instead we cycled to a dam in the middle of the bamboo forest.
It was easy cycling on and off roads or concreted paths but really only took a few hours. Thankfully it didn’t take any longer as by the time we got back to the hostel the heavens opened and there was torrential rain, soon flowing down the roads like a mini river. We were meant to go hiking to the Moganshan Peak the next day but the rains hadn’t stopped so we elected to skip it and just spend time relaxing at the hostel over a good breakfast. Bonus they had western style toilets, not the Asian ‘squat’ ones.
Next we travelled by bus to Deqing where we caught the train to Shanghai. This wasn’t a bullet train but it was exceptionally comfortable, clean and prompt all with allocated seating too. The trains and infrastructure here will knock spots of the ones back home.
Arriving in Shanghai, transferred by metro to our hostel. A nice clean hostel with roof top bar, restaurant and all the facilities you’d expect including laundry and free WiFi. The dorm rooms were ok but the beds were rock hard. It was more comfortable camping next to the Great Wall than to spend a night on the dorm beds.
The good news is on Saturday nights there is a ‘Drunken Panda’ pub crawl around Shanghai arranged and what a coincidence, we arrived on a Saturday… A bus picked us up and took us to the first bar, The Gatsby, where all drinks for 1 hour are free, so we made sure we got our monies worth… 🙂 then the bus took us to a Brazilian bar where had a couple of caipirinhas and instead of bar stools, there were swings at the bar. Spent about another hour or so here and then the bus took us to the third bar in the French district which had lots of drinks flowing, then it was on to a club of some description. Don’t really remember much about that. But we got a taxi back to the hostel and tried to find some food. Ended up in a Szechwan style hot pot place that was open and cheap, but the food was gross. Finally got back in the dorm at around 05.00hrs. Found this quite pleasing as am travelling with quite a few younger people who couldn’t handle the pace. Pleased to see that at 41, I still can 🙂 but had a lazy day on the rock hard bed afterwards.
On the Monday walked to and around Yu Gardens which is a huge tourist attraction in Shanghai which used to be a private garden to quite a well-off family. I guess similar to the National Trust back home. There was a zig-zag bridge full of people taking selfies, plenty of water features, rock, trees and pavilions.
Afterwards walked to the People’s Square and down one of the busiest shopping streets in the world, Nanjing Road. Oxford Street or 5th Avenue have nothing on this. Am really impressed with how nice Shanghai is and how modern the Chinese are. After what seemed hours, arrived at the Bund which is a sort of riverfront overlooking the high rise financial district of Shanghai. We managed to get to the Vue Bar in on the 33rd floor of a rather swanky business style hotel. It was weird walking through reception looking at the faces of the guests who all looked miserable, sitting several seats away from one another (maybe for business confidentiality reasons) transfixed by their phones or laptops. At least in a hostel environment you engage with other people. Up at the bar, we had great uninterrupted views of the night skyline and there was a hot tub too, plus entry included free drinks so the only thing I wanted out of the choices available, was champagne 🙂
Next day still in Shanghai discovered the secretive propaganda history museum in the basement of a block of flats which actually wasn’t all that good, especially the grumpy man who worked there.
Next visited TianZiFang, local artisan’s maze of lanes blending chique and traditional shops. There wasn’t anything I wanted to buy so just nosied around.
In the afternoon, took the metro to the Zhujiajiao Water Town. It only cost 16 Yuans return for a journey that was about an hour and half each way. The water town was like a little Venice I suppose with lots of waterways and canal-side shops and restaurants offering local Chinese delicacies some of which smelled nice, others not so. Got on a little boat and we were taken down stream and let of by a temple.
After a few hours of wandering around, time to head home as we had an early train to catch the next day.