Chad Is Everywhere

I took the opportunity to visit Layess, my former Brisbane flatmate, as a part of my Panda trip. The idea was that I could make a side trip to her home city of Chongqing from Chengdu. It was about 2 hours by train. This was easy enough to complete in theory. I just had to figure out myself how to get there.  Which meant navigating the long distance trains myself after managing to buy a ticket. Easier said than done. The first step was easy. I just had to retrace our trip from the Chengdu Train station we had arrived into. Then I just had to board the right train at the station. It was fairly easy on the way to Chengdu. But then we had guided instruction on what to do from the tour. Although we didn't actually have the guide with us every time we were inside the station we were seemingly under the safety blanket beingtold what to expect. This trip has no such support. I was alone and had my memory to rely on.   I had no ability to book my train tickets onlin...

  Chengdu as a destination wasn't just about Pandas. I mean sure if I left Chengdu and all I could say I saw was the Panda Base I'd still feel a sense of achievement. However There was much more to the 3 nights on the tour in Chengdu, and then the extra nights I stayed there after making a side trip to Chongqing. Immediately after the tour of the Panda base we went for a lunch at perhaps the most basic of the restaurants we visited whilst on the tour. Unfortunately for our guide this restaurant was awkward. There was no menu in English, and she hadn't really explained to us it was cheap. We were seemingly locked into a group lunch experience unknown relying on the guide to order. The main table which was mainly non vegetarians was fine. A mix of hot and not so hot dishes came out. Although we were still tentative about what to expect. However the vegetarians at a second table (due to the group size) were left to the whim of the hosts too. So they got the same long bean ...

I had visited Hong Kong before on a stopover from Europe on the way home. That time was a quick stay in part to see friends, and to then also get a taste of the city without committing to a long stop. This trip with the goal of getting up into China it made sense to revisit Hong Kong, and then also get a chance to see friends I had short changed last time. I enjoyed Hong Kong the first time as it's a great mix of East meets West culture and food. Unfortunately for me it wasn't all fine blue sky. This was hot and humid end of typhoon season Hong Kong. Not that I minded to much. It had been so long since I had seen rain in Brisbane. And my lagging winter cough needed the humidity to help it disappear. So my time here in Hong Kong was partly exploring the tourist zones I had missed, and then exploring the taste buds. I managed to fit in some Michelin rated noodles restaurant, and visit some great Dim Sum catching up with friends during the stay. Initial plans to go into th...

We celebrated my mother's 65th birthday Saturday night by going to our friend Jason's pop up restaurant experience, Betty Wilson's Dining Room. Such a wonderful night tasting local ingredients in a small and casual setting. His concept is great. With just 12 guests for a sitting you really have a great time hearing about each dish as they are served.

Passau was a bit hilly. I guess I didn't really look at the map in detail when confirming my trip. I had assumed it was all flat and easy access. Well in most of Passau it was mostly flat. But my hotel had a little kicker at the end to get up to. Meant that any time I departed the hotel into town there was the walk back up hill. Wasn't too bad as I was only there one night before I moved to another hotel right down in the old town for the final night in Passau. However context was I had been cycling for days. Once off the bike each day the legs would refuse to do hills. Understandably tour company hadn't led on which hotel I'd be placed into when placing the deposit. So when I booked the extra night I was flying blind. I took as place, in my budget, in an area I though was important. I wasn't wrong with it. Just the tour company took the other option up outside of the city centre, and not on the river. Passau as a city was great. The city is a ...

Pedaling Deggendorf  By day 5 of cycling this tour along the Donau the body was starting to say "that'll do". Not to say that this cycling trip was a grind, or a wrong decision. No it's just that I was shattered, and no matter what I did, ate, or drank after the daily ride would matter. I was tired. The rides now were fairly relaxed compared to earlier in the week. There was a definite increase in the amount of bitumen as I approached Passau nearing Austria. And reality was the distances between towns was mostly getting shorter. Metten side step I was also getting much more relaxed about the weather by this stage. It's a much easier decision to just allow the time to take a diversion, or a iced chocolate break when you're not concerned it's going to rain.   On this day I remember the constant though of just taking the side trip to a side town just beyond the main path. However that little side trip was a few kilometres each time. A...

Departure from Regensburg was easy. Seems that that Regensburg population doesn't get out of bed before 9am on a weekend. I on the other hand was struggling with staying up at night. Doing over 40kms of cycling a day was influencing my sleep patterns. By the time I was finished each day on the bike all it would take is a meal and an ice cream and I was done. Plus, with my trip being destination to destination I was perhaps more aware to be on the road to the next stop to ensure I would see something at the other end. Even with late sunsets and daylight saving time it didn't mean museums or churches were always open later. I guess I could have taken the other view and seen the towns before leaving each day however I wasn't taking a chance on the weather changing. If it was fine in the morning the rule was, ride! Not far out of Regensburg was one of the tour stage highlights. A place called Wahalla. Personally I hadn't heard of the place until I started researching my...

After having the nightmare of a ride the day before I knew my ride from Kelheim to Regensburg would be fine. I knew this not because I had seen the weather forecast. I knew this because I had just spent $150 on a top quality rain jacket that was sure to keep me dry. After drying out in Kelheim during the afternoon as soon as my bag arrived I had hightailed it to a sports store, and then when not satisfied with the selection there I discovered there was an actually shopping centre just out of the city centre away from the tourist focused old town. Anyway I knew the rules. Don't buy a jacket and it'll piss down again. Or buy a jacket and have a dry ride for the rest of the cycling week. It wasn't really a choice in the end. So with my unexpected purchase on, and extra clothes in the side pannier of to Regensburg it was for me. The extra clothes were just in case I again beat my suitcase to Regensburg. The ride on this third day of cycling was also much shorter than I had ...