Day 41 1 June 2013 Big brother Big brother is here, I have no doubt about that. If something was to happen and I needed to be found, the authorities would find me in a day if not sooner. How is that possible in country of over a billion people>? Easy! . Everyone has an identification card and mine is my passport. The tracking system is simple. When you go to a hotel /hostel whatever, your details are recorded from your passport and given to the local police...

Day 41 31/5/2013 Xian A disappointing change. At arrival in Chengdu I immediately purchased my ongoing ticket for Xian, about 850 km north east of Chengdu. Often the staff of a hostel will take care of it and for the cost of a $1.50 they will get the ticket for you. When the chap went out to get the ticket he returned within three minutes meaning that he didn't get it from the station but elsewhere. Yesterday I found that the railway ticket office was you 100...

Day 40 30 May 2013 Chengdu I finished my blog at 1.15 Am this morning and had to get up at 6.30 Am as I had booked a morning tour of the Panda Breeding centre . Chengdu is synonymous with Panda's as this is the only place in the world where Panda’s are found in the wild. The sanctuary was just outside the city. A fellow traveler (Adrian from Ireland) mentioned it again late last night and asked me to come and him and I am glad I did although, I felt like...

Day 39 May 29 (May 28) Another new obstacle/experience. Travelling by train is easy, but getting on the right train, that may require some planning or so I thought. My train was leaving at 18.48. I had enquired at the desk how long it would take from the hostel to the train station; about 15 minutes I was told. I thought I better leave early as I may have some problems finding the right platform. Outside the hostel I went to a few taxi drivers who were not at ...

Day 38 28 May 2013 Kunming, China Hostels- are they any good? Many years ago when I worked for a meat processing company as Export manager. During that time I participated in an International food exhibition and trade show in Singapore. As this was a party sponsored by the Queensland State Government to promote Queensland food products I was required stay at a 5 star resort at Sentosa Island in Singapore. At that time, I think it was around 1998 the rooms cos...