Once again, a few words

It's 3 months to the day, and 20,000km (give or take a few) since we left Waterloo. We have today arrived safe in Hanoi after a train, taxi, taxi, bus bonanza which got us from Nanning to the border and into Viet Nam. Finally we don't have to deal with the Chinese internet firewall nor indeed computers that only work in Chinese. We'll post a few lines (but not too many) soon to explain a few of the photos! But that's for later. We're off to get some fresh beer and a Vietnamese feast!

Cooking our evening meal: catfish in beer, not meats from the local market (see below...)

Local butchers' market...

Cut-out & keep Susy and Dan

Marigold tea

Sunday stroll in the park (with a few like minded Chinese)

Bird market

Camel-shaped hill, Guilin

Big pussy-cat

Panda topiary

Tramping along

Trying to find a bus (it took three hours and a mighty walk to the highway)

Tree canopy walkway

Snoopy in mortuary bag, Jinghong

Our treehouse with en-suite!

Rainforest with our treehouse abode in background

Rainforest, Banna

Big tree

Dan pleased to have avoided the testicle-biting Mekong Monster Fish

Crossing the Mekong in a dug-out

Red powderpuff, Tropical Gardens, Jinghong, Banna Region

Ah! The tropics, at last...

Hills behind Dali

Overlooking Dali

Cliff-edge path, Dali

Susy posing Chinese-style, Dali, Yunnan

Jade Snow Mountain, Yunnan

Naxi Orchestra, Lijiang

This amazing orchestra has uniquely preserved original Han and Naxi classical music dating back to the 7th Century. They had to bury their instruments and music during the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, were able to regroup in secret in 1981 and started performing in public again in 1986.

The coolest haircut in China....

Dan managed to pay 10 yuan to have his hair slicked but luckily escaped before any scissors were wielded. Better luck next time.

Susy blogging, our hotel room, Lijiang

Fuschia, Black Dragon Pool, Lijiang

Canal, Lijiang

Old Naxi woman, Lijiang

Idyllic Lijiang, Yunnan Province

Big Buddha bloke, Leshan

Feeding time

Susy enthusing over another tasty chilli feast...

Ultra-relaxed panda, Chengdu

Feeding time

Tour guides await their victims, 11.30pm somewhere on the Yangtze...

The Little Three Gorges

Entering the Three Gorges

Saucy statue, Abode of Ghosts

Setting sail from Chongqing

Arriving in our cabin, Yangtze river boat

Monks bonging bell, Putuoshan

Suzhou

The Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou

Shanghai skyline

The Bund by night

The most expensive beer in China, overlooking the Bund, Shanghai

Warriors, Xian