XIAN - on my own.

Well, I'm in Xian now. I took the night train from Beijing. I slept in a tiny bed, without any space. I couldn't even sit up. But there was a nice boy sleeping next to me, and he spoke a little english. So he helped me with telling me where to go off, and so on... He was also going to Xian. But it wasn't the same as with Camilla right next to me.

The first day here, I was very tired, so I just walked around nearby the hostel. I live right in the center of the city. When I arrived, there were three other girls in my room. But they all left that day. So I got the room for my self.

The second day, I went to see the Terakott worriors. That's why I'm here, actually. To see the Terakotta army. I went on a group tour that I booked on the hostel. I really loved it. There were more than 6000 worriors there! Amazing... Worth seeing:) I took a lot of pictures.

Today, I rented a bike at my hostel, and went to the pagoda here in Xian. It was a beautiful park there as well. And a nice street with lots of restaurantes. So I walked around there for a long time. When I sat at one restaurante, it started raining really bad. So I figured I'd just wait for it to stop. And it did. But when I was on the bike, on my way home, it started raining again - really bad! When I got to the hostel, I was soaking wet! When I walked in the door at the hostel, everyone in the room all started laughing at me:) I was dripping. But at least I made some people smile for a while:)

After I changed my clothes, I went out again, this time with my jacket on... I went to see a couple of towers here in the city, and a mosque. I also ended up in a little street where people were selling all kinds of things. Lots of lots of food, fruit and much more. It was very interesting. So today has been great:)

Tomorrow, I think I will rent a bike one more time, and maybe go to the place where the silk road started in the old days. A road where China traded silk and other things with other countries. I guess that would be fun to see, and then I also get to see more of the city, on the bike. And maybe I'm going to a park I've seen on the map.

And the day after that, I'm going back home to Norway! I'm looking forward to that now. I'm kind of homesick...

bummer...

when we went to the kung fu show today, we were told that kung fu was over. they did not do that anymore, anywhere in beijing... so the tickets we had bought were old tickets, without any date on it. but we used them for an acrobatic show instead. it was fun, but i wanted to see kung fu... acrobatics is not the same...

BEIJING

Yes... We are in Beijing now. This city reminds me of New York. There are many new, tall buildings. And there are many parks here, where all the old people work out in the morning. But this city is much more spread out than NY. The traffic is bad, not because they drive badly ( even though they do, but we are very used with that kind of driving now. and they do not hunk as much here...), but there are sooo many cars everywhere.
we are staying at a very cosy hostel, in the center of the city. right next to the forbidden city. but we still have to take taxis everywhere we want to go, because it is so spread out.

we have been to a lot of markeds. the pearl marked, the silk marked and yashow marked. i have shopped... and shopped... i am very good at bargin now! today a girl told me that i was stupid. and she wanted to kill me, and then she hit me, and said it was no wonder i had no boyfriend, because nobody liked me. because i was so mean. only because i wanted a sweater a bit cheaper. she was crazy! and i had to just walk away, so i would not hit her too. i got really angry. but most of the time it is just fun. and we have met a lot of great people:)

we also went to the forbidden city today. that was fun, or it was ok. i have seen a lot of palaces now on our trip, so i am a bit tired of it. but i liked it, and i could not have been in beijing for so long, and not visit the forbidden city. we have also been to the summer palace. that was beautiful:)

yesterday, we went to the great wall. eirin and marie came a few days ago, so we are travelling with them now. they are friends of camillas. we walked for about 10 km. up, and down. it felt a lot longer. we did a lot of climbing. we went on the oldest part of the wall, and it was kind of ruined some places, so the path was not very good. but that was actually kind of fun:) i had a great time!!! it goes in the memory book for ever...

tomorrow we are going to a kung fu show in the evening. that will be fun:) and i think i want to see the mao museum tomorrow too. and maybe see the olympic stadium...

and on saturday i am leaving. i am going on my own to xian. i am going on a train for 12 hours or something... hardsleeper, so that can be interesting... so that is how i am going to celebrate my mothers birthday. she is 50!

siss

Hue

We stayed in Hue for two days. We went on a day trip, divided in two, so we did one part the first day, and the last part the second day. It was mostly temples, tombs and other big buildings were the kings used to live. It was not the most fun I ever had. And we were very tired. Because we had travelled in night time the day we arrived. It is not very much to say about Hue...
After the two days, we first had to fly to Han Oi, and then to Kuala Lumpur, and from Kuala Lumpur we flew to Beijing. And that is where we are now!

Hoi An in my heart<3

Hoi An was the next city we visited in Vietnam. It was just lovely:) The beach was nice, and we rented bikes every day, so that we could ride them to the beach. It was only 2.5 km from our hotel. It was so beautiful there. We had sun everyday:) And the people were so nice. We also got to know two girls from Sweeden, that we spent a couple of days with. One of them talked a lot! But they were nice, and it was fun to spend some time with someone else.

One thing that I liked about Hoi An, was that it was so cheap to make clothes there. It was lots of tailors there. And I got a little crazy... I bought two silk dresses, one jacket, one coat, one suit, and two shirts:) And all for about 1300 kr, that is like 250 USD. Very cheap:) I hope it gets home with the mail, and do not get lost overseas!

One evening when we got out to the usual place, by the river, where all the restaurants were, it was very crowded. It turned out that it was some kind of celebration, because of the full moon. It was music, singing and dancing everywhere. And on the river, they sendt down candle lights. Very beautiful. We bought a candle and put it on our restaurante table, so we could be a part of the event. It was a great day:)

We stayed in Hoi An for about one week. But we both wanted to stay longer. We had such a great time there! It was absolutly one of the best places on our trip so far. Actually I think it was the very best. Even though I liked LA very much, Hoi An was a bit better. If there is one place I want to visit again, it must be this little town.

HANOI - Vietnam

I loved Hanoi! It was a mess, a lovely mess! There were motorbikes, and bicykles everywhere! It was just a charming city, and I liked it much more than I liked Bangkok. We stayed in the heart of the city, in the middle of old-town. We had one daytrip to the coast, but it wasn't that great. We saw many beautiful islands, and a really pretty cave, though. But Han Oi was just a funny, funny place! We rentet a boy for 45 minuits, so he could take us around in his bike-taxi. Wery fun:) And i bought a beautiful silk dress:)

IN THE JUNGEL...

In the jungel, the mighty jungel... Camilla nad I are now back in Shiang Mai after three days and two nights in the jungel. I had such a great time! We got to know two other girls from Danmark, who were in our group of nine. One of the other guys from our group was from Japan, and he didn't know any english. The rest of the group, all came from Tjekkia. And they were really, really loud! One of the guys talked all the time, and only inhis own language. Camilla and I both thought it was very irritating... But the two girls from Denmark, were nice:)

The first day, we had to drive for a while, to get to the jungel. When we first started walking, it was just uphill! And for a very long time. But on the other side of the mountain, it was downhill. Kind of logic, maybe... Anyway, we walked for about an hour that day. And by the end of the day, we came to a small village, where we spent the night. It looked like we had walked a thousand years back in time! Buffalos were pooing in the water we were bading in, and it was cows, dogs and chicken everywhere... But the people there were nice, even though they didn't understand any english. We slept on a little blanket, with a moskitonet, and it was freezing in the night.

The next day, we walked for a long time. This day was also curvy, like the first one. Poor guys from Tjekkia, they were so tired... But after a while we got to an elefant farm, where we ate lunch, and started elefant riding. I was so scared! I was sure I would fall off anytime. But ofcourse I didn't:) Camilla on the other hand, was very brave. After the elefant riding, we walked again for a few minuits, before we came to the village where we were going to sleep that night. It was a bit bigger than the first one, with a school and everything.

The third day started with bamboo rafting on the river! It sounds very fun, but the water was so low, that we didn't go very fast. The people from the village, had made the bamboo raft the day before.

So, now we're back in Shiang Mai. And tomorrow we're going to Bangkok again. And on the day after that, we're going to Vietnam! Yes...

Siss