go go gobi!

back once again like the renegade master...er not quite. contrary to a few queries we are in fact very much still alive. so it's blog overload time (well until we get bored..).

finally getting around to some internet time in downtown shanghai. we're feeling the effects of typhoon krosa here, so both soaked to the bone as we type. not much else to do right now, so here goes..

caught mtb train from ulaan bataar to beijing, and spent a few days travelling through this:

only saw one fekkin camel! btw, if you can access the hi-res pics from this blog check out the dunes in the distance. awesome! also witnessed a beaut sunset over the gobi, again my crapola digi-cam might not do it justice:

apparently we passed sections of the great chinese wall on way down from north, but woke up to late to check 'em out...aarrrggghhhh (damn you genghis khan vodka!). but at least the scenery had changed to this:

made it into beijing a week ago. unfortunately we didn't realise the 1st october national chinese day (followed by a weeks holiday)! 15 million people in this city and it felt like every single one of 'em was on the streets! thank fek for the tuk-tuk drivers around the city! you may take your life in your hands, but you get places cheap. heres me and sarah on the back of one, travelling downtown:

broke outta the city and headed for the great wall (simatai- less touristy). actually started to regret asking guide to take us to less accessable parts, we only found out halfway through we had to walk ONLY 11 FEKKIN KM!!! of this:

well worth the pain though. unforgettable sights. man that sounds like such a cliche..i apologise! tea-house we visited afterwards:

where we met this little guy:

one of the funniest/quirkiest little things we've seen yet in this country. get this, if the water to make the tea isn't hot enough and you pour it on t'baby, nowt happens. if it's just right guess what, yes, the little bugger pees everywhere! including over us. good luck apparently...

then ladies and gentlemen, it t'was dinner time. think we've got lucky and managed to avoid a few of the joints paul merton visited (donkeys penis anyone?), but still, i always enjoy hand picking my eels and turtles before dinner:

although i had a little fracas with the lady trying to point out they were, in fact, terrapins. i digress. pigeonhead starter?

mmm...

all joking aside, beijing (with the benefit of hindsight) was albsolutely blinding! you think london is big, then you hit moscow. you think moscow is big, then you hit beijing. you think beijing is big then...hang on a minute this place is HUUUUGE! if you can get your ass around this city during the national holidays you can get around anywhere. we experienced some real cool bars, hung with our fellow travellers/locals, eat in the finest restaurants. well cool. also checked out the olympic venues - swimming and main arenas pretty cool.

starting to get bored here (i mean typing this right now, not beijing), so we ditched beijing for xi'an (again by train) to see these guys:

then left for shanghai (again by train ffs!) were we are now. cold wet and in a city that seemingly is a culture vacuum! the next hawker to try and hardsell a copied dvd gonna get the kiss that don't miss!

right, ramble over, not even sure what we just wrote there, but more drivel to follow, sometime soon, god knows where. until then, keep 'er country.

s & s

x