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Bren and Kate's travels!
Hello!
Sorry have taken so long to update but haven't been near a computer.
On Monday we went to Dali which has an amazing old town where nothing seems to have changed. There are loads of little restaurants which have singing contests across the stream, noisy but interesting! We got lost in the streets but managed to find our way back. The next day Bren got ill which wasn't fun so we spent the day in the hotel, watched an amazing Chinese film (!). He is all better now although quite a few people on the trip have been/are getting ill so it seems pretty common. We think it is the rich food. Which by the way is nice but Chinese food is actually quite limited and we have pretty much had the same dishes each day. They have the same for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We are looking forward to fish and chips in Australia which is supposed to be nice. We have manages to get a couple of McDonalds in though!
That night we got a late flight to Chengdu which was delayed for 2 hours but they gave us giant pot noodles! The Chinese really look after you and are obsessed with Westerners. Your bags are carried everywhere you go and they will get anything for you. On the first day in Chengdu we went to the Wensu temple which was very big, but not as interesting as the Po lin monsetry. In the evening we went to the Sichuan Opera which was really good. It was in this kind of open top temple which they called a teshouse. The best bits were the changing masks, fire spitting and hand shadows, it is def worth seeing.
The next day we went to see the Giant Buddha. The size of it is crazy and the fact that someone carved it is just insane. We climbed up and down him which almost killed me (Kate!) and Brendan was taking two steps at a time! We also saw the cave in which the man who began it lived whilst doing it. It wasn't fidished until 90 years after he died.
The next morning we went to the panda sanctuary which was really funny. We went just at the right time when they were being fed. They were really playful and one of them pushed another down a slope which was very funny. I held a red panda which looks like tails as in sonic and tails. He was really cute.
That Evening we got on the Ship for our three day cruise on the Yangtze! It was actually a lot nicer that we thought ans we got to see the three gorges and the dam. The river as already been flooded 40m and is going up to 175m. So many houses are going to be lost. We stop in Fengdu which is the City of Ghosts. Souls are supposed to go here to decide whether they go to heaven or hell. There are three tests, we both passed so we are good people! Brendan failed the good husband test though!
The nest day on the ship we got off onto smaller boats which were rowed by local men. They actually get out and pull it along at one point. They used to do it naked but they wear pants now thankfully! The bit of the river we were on is completely going to be flooded by October so it is pretty cool to say we saw it before.
The boat docked today somewhere in China (we hope) although we have no idea where! We are about to get an 18 hours train ride which will be fun. We are going to Xian.
Sorry for the long message. Hope everyone is good. We are missing you all but having a great time.
Oh, by the way a really annoying American fat man from our group was just walking in front of us and a couple of other people and his trousers fell to the floor. Not funny to you I know but we can't stop laughing!
Lots of love
Bren and Katexx
LUKE- Hello dude. They speak Mandarin in mainland and hardly anyone speak English but finding it easy to communicate.
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