Journey to the Mountains of the Moon - 1994 (17)

Uganda, Kampala to Kenya, Nairobi – July 27th

We had an early 5am start in order to leave for Entebbe Airport at 6am. Mukasa - our taxi driver from the previous evening arrived promptly and we reached Entebbe at around 6:40am. The check in was very slow but eventually we were on the plane which took off at 8:10am. The onboard light refreshments were quite interesting – a bread bun, croissant with butter and marmalade, and two sugar (lady finger) bananas.

On arrival at Nairobi we checked with the Fairview Hotel by phone to find that our reservation was all OK, the only downside being in a room with a shared bathroom. The allocated room was in an old cottage within the hotel grounds and was pleasantly cool. We were able to watch a sunbird busy in a Bird-Of-Paradise flower just outside the window.

Sunbird - outside bedroom window at Fairview Hotel

After getting our baggage settled in, including what we had stored there while on our Uganda adventure, we walked into the city to get some traveller’s cheques changed. I had to replace the clip on my sun-glasses as they had suffered in the mountains. I also had to get some more books as I had run out of reading material. After getting back to the Fairview I called home to let Patricia know that we were back in Nairobi safe and not too much the worse for wear. Lunch was a nice turkey sandwich and some samosas.

After lunch we rang Marjorie and Frank to invite them out for dinner but they declined as they were in the middle of a panic return to England to sort out some problems with misuse of their house. Marjorie was also to have a minor operation for skin cancer on Friday.

That evening we went to dinner at the Minar Indian Restaurant at Westlands. It was very good with main courses of Chicken Tikka, Mutton Kebab, Garlic Mushrooms, Aloo Mattar, Naan and rice for Ks1395 including drinks.

Journey to the Mountains of the Moon - 1994 (16)

Uganda, Kasese to Kampala – July 26th

Early in the morning I had to shoot out of bed with another bout of diarrhoea – probably a result of all the fruit juice the previous day. I decided to knock it over with Flagyl and Lomotil (aka Loctite) as we would be travelling to Uganda by bus. After breakfast we went down to the bus stop and met Mr Singi - a very pleasant Mzee who was a fount of information about the attractions of Western Uganda. We found a bus leaving for Kampala ‘soon’ so headed back to the Hotel to check out and take that bus. We got on the bus at 9:20am and didn’t leave Kasese until 10am. Before leaving the town the bus did a cruise around the streets touting for passengers – what a service!

The journey back to Kampala was pretty much the same as the journey out only in reverse. Again we saw Impala, Buffalo, Baboons, and Uganda Kob in Queen Elizabeth Park. We came across an amusing sign just outside the town of Mbarara. It was a normal black-and-white painted Zebra crossing with a sign proudly proclaiming ‘Donated by the Lions Club of Mbarara’. We could just imagine a pride of lazy, hungry lions waiting in the long grass by the side of the road for the Zebras to cross. Maybe we were still light-headed from lack of food!

Bus stop scene - Kasese to Kampala

Along the way there were several stops at which refreshments could be bought either through the bus window or from some of them who came aboard while the bus was stopped. These were colourful sights with lots of activity going on.

"Meals on Wheels!" - Kasese to Kampala

During the bus ride to Kampala I took the time to look at the architecture of houses seen along the way. One incongruous design was a mud-walled hut with a corrugated iron roof and the ridge of the corrugated roof capped with clay tiles.

Summing up the domestic architectures encountered, there appeared to be a progression from the simplest/cheapest to the more technologically intensive and thus more expensive designs. The simplest was undoubtedly the traditional round, mud-walled, thatch-roofed hut. Next in sophistication, if that's the appropriate word, was a hut built to a rectangular pattern with the walls constructed of mud formed on an armature of saplings. The roof was again of thatch.

Next again up the ladder of sophistication was a rectangular hut made of mud bricks. This may have a thatched roof, or one of corrugated iron. The corrugated iron roof probably denoted a slightly more sophisticated sub-classification of this style.

A variation on the previously described style was the use of baked mud bricks but with otherwise the same construction. And then last of all were huts constructed of fired clay bricks and possibly concrete floor and corrugated iron roofing.

The method of baking or firing mud bricks was similar to the making of charcoal:
* Build a stack of mud-bricks – hollow in the centre
* Build a fire in the middle
* Seal the outside and leave it to cook and cool.

There was some very nice-looking basketry for sale along the roadside but no opportunity to stop and check it out. We eventually arrived in Kampala around 5pm into the midst of traffic chaos. When we were eventually able to get off the bus we got into a taxi to the Sheraton Hotel but they had no rooms available so it was on to the Fairway where we were able to get a room for US$89. Then we had to check out flight availability from Entebbe to Nairobi as we didn’t want to spend another 15 hours on a bum-numbing bus ride. We managed to get a booking for 8am the following day but had to go straight to the Uganda Airline office to pay the US$110 each for the tickets.

The TV in the hotel room seemed to have only one channel which varied between CNN and CTV. There were some amusing cartoons on CTV including "Duck Tales, Zoo Olympics". Dominic phoned the Fairview in Nairobi to reserve a room for our return but they couldn’t confirm it. We were to call again from Nairobi Airport on arrival. This was probably a standard practice due to the uncertainties of travel in Africa.

Journey to the Mountains of the Moon - 1994 (15)

General Impressions of the Ruwenzoris and Our Trek

The Ruwenzori Range is, without doubt, a very beautiful area with a unique and vast array of flora. Most of the time, the peaks are shrouded in cloud and this deepens the mystery surrounding the ranges. When the cloud does rise briefly there are tantalising glimpses of the peaks.

While we heard many different bird calls we were not often favoured with views of them but, had we had the time to linger would no doubt have seen more. We saw no signs of animals and from what our porters told us this was a legacy of the Tanzanian invasion several years earlier.

The Lonely Planet Guide, and the other route descriptions we had read were too brief to really do justice to the trek, or to really give us any idea of how hard it was. Three days of the trek are at altitudes at or above 4000 metres which was very tiring. We were unprepared for there being so many bogs although this is probably affected by recent weather. Both Dominic and I had experienced the vertical bogs of Mt Kenya but that was all over in a couple of hours whereas some of the bogs on this trek went on all day and sapped all of our strength in struggling across them. There is no doubt that high altitude trekking of this type is very hard and not to be taken too lightly.

To cope with the bogs a pair of old discardable sneakers would have been useful and would have allowed us to have dryer and warmer feet in the evenings.

It was very worth while making the side trip up to Elena Hut, even though we didn’t go up to Margherita Peak. The views were spectacular when the cloud lifted.

Food wise – we should have taken much more care over food selection, especially as we didn’t have to carry it. It was very demoralising to reach camp exhausted and then have to prepare a meal.

Our guide, Denisi, was very good and kept Dominic and I company and guidance all the way on each stage even though we were much slower than Pierre and Till. I think he took pity on Mzee! The Bakonzo porters, and the Zairean porter we had were all very good and willing to help. The oldest Bakonzo porter, Jerome – another Mzee, was very fit and wiry. All of the porters ran up and down these mountains as if they were level ground. I’d have liked to see some of them in the Sydney to Melbourne super marathon. I think they would have knocked the socks of some of the competition – including Cliff Young.

Bwanas Day Out

(Bwanas = Bush Walkers and Nomadic Adventurers)

Last weekend a depleted group comprising Gary, Martin, John and myself went for an overdue walk in the Southern ACT - the far south of Namadgi National Park. In selecting a walk for this adventure I wanted to choose something mildly challenging but interesting. The walk we chose is an anti-clockwise loop walk from a turn-off near the Mt Clear camp ground turn off on the Boboyan Road heading West towards the Old Boboyan Road and then South toward the ACT border before looping back East and North to complete the loop. The interest is that the loop passes close by the ruins of three old homesteads dating from before the area became National Park. Son Dominic and I had done this walk twice, the first time overshooting the turn back to the east and ending up down on the Yaouk Road - considerably further than we had intended to walk. I had also done it in the clock-wise direction with friend Pia and an ANU walking group so I thought I knew the walk pretty well.

On the Saturday morning of the walk, which I remembered as being between 4 and 5 hours duration, Canberra and the southern ACT was experiencing its first decent rain in quite a while. So much so that, as I waited for Martin, Gary, and John at our agreed meeting place of Namadgi Visitor Centre I was wondering if we would be walking at all. However, once we all met up we agreed to head down to where the walk starts and then make a decision.

When we arrived at the turn-off to the beginning of the walk it was still raining heavily. The gravel road which we travelled on past the Gudgenby Homestead was quite muddy and slippery in places making the journey a little slower than usual. The consensus on reaching the locked gate at the start of the walk was to kit up in our rain-proof gear and start off. We could always turn back if things became too extreme, so we duly headed off. The track was quite muddy and slippery but walking wasn't too bad. I was walking in shorts as was John, although he was wearing gaiters. Gary was wearing waterproof long overpants, and Martin was wearing long pants which were anything but waterproof. In the first kilometre of walking Martin's lower trouser legs became very wet and cold.

The first 5 or 6 kilometres of the walk are across open 'farmland' with flattish plains to the north and wooded hills to the south. After about 2-3 kilometres the ruin of Boboyan Homestead is reached. There is little more than a chimney there now.

John, Gary, and Martin with the chimney of the old
Boboyan Homestead in the background.

Continuing westward, the track forks near where it meets up with the section of the Old Boboyan Road which heads north toward Gudgenby Homestead. Our way was now to head south along the Grassy Creek track toward the ACT border. At the track intersection we took the opportunity for a short break. The rain had eased up to just the odd droplets by this time and we were all feeling much better about the day.

Gary and Martin with some of the 'locals' in the background.

We had passed several grazing mobs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos on the walk thus far with largest mob comprising between 30 and 40 animals.

From this point we headed south where the track now proceeds to rise up a series of low hills. After the first rise the ruins of the Lone Pine Homestead are reached. Little remains of the former homestead except the fireplace which has a large eucalypt growing through it. The 'pine' after which the homestead was named has been long gone.

Remains of Lone Pine Homestead. The fireplace is surrounded
by exotic deciduous trees which have deposited a thick layer of
autumnal leaves.

By the time we reached the homestead we had been walking for a little over two hours, it now being just on noon, so we decided to make it our lunch break. By now it was quite sunny although the threat of rain was still there in the South-west.

Near the homestead we say a rock to which someone has affixed a metal plaque. It is in memoriam to the homesteaders infant sun who died there in 1915. Being so remote, medical help would have been hard to come by and would have required most of a day's travel whether going north or south.

As we headed on toward the south John and I, walking ahead of Gary and Martin, startled a Gang Gang Cockatoo which departed noisily overhead. From the Lone Pine Homestead to the point where the track loops eastwards near the park/ACT border the walk is pleasant but uneventful. It proceeds up a series of low rises interspersed with small open, tussocky plain areas. As we reached the eucalypt forest again just before the park border it started to rain again so it was back into raingear before continuing.

We had no trouble spotting the turn-off left to take us back to the east as it has been the subject of National Park attention to make a more robust and open firetrail along this boundary of the park. Dominic had mentioned this and my impression was that they had just opened up the original track for fire access. However, it turned out to be not so as the new track runs along the border although dipping and weaving to avoid rocky outcrops. They had also put a log across the original track to discourage anyone from going that way - possibly to preserve the more fragile ground of the plains. With this new track being our means of completing the walk, I estimate that it added about 5km to the original 20km estimate. But anyway, apart from the occasional rain squalls it had turned into a great day for walking and we were all feeling pretty good. Perhaps becoming a little footsore but without any major problems developing.

Along the newly bulldozed track there were some significantly steep ups and downs but fortunately each lasting no more than 100 metres with ascents/descents of up to about 20 metres. All of this, of course, leads to a relatively slow pace. After about two and a half to three hours of walking from Lone Pine Homestead we eventually reach th epoint where the track turns once again northward. The GPS which I was carrying in case of emergence confirmed that we were near to the south-east corner of the park so we knew that our destination was not too far away. At this stage the bulldozed track leaves the eucalypt forest to emerge onto the open plains. A little more walking had us overlooking Westerman's hut. This, and Brayshaw's Hut are in significantly better condition than the two ruins we had encountered so far.

Westerman's Hut, Namadgi National Park

By this time it was just after 3PM - approximately the time I had estimated we would be back at the car! Looking at the map we could see that there would be still another one and a half to two hours walking ahead of us. The late afternoon sunshine, however, made for superb walking so even though we were all a bit footsore by now it was not an overly daunting prospect.

Just north of Westerman's hut, the track takes another dive toward the east where it exits from the park onto the Boboyan Road. Just before we got to this point we watched a pair of Wedgetail Eagles majestically take off toward the south. When you get up to close to these birds you get to appreciate how big they are. With a length up to about 1 metre, when standing on the ground they are almost a metre tall. The outstretched wings of a fully grown specimen reach up to 2.3 metres. Dominic and I once drove towards a pair which were feeding on carrion by the roadside. One of them took off as we approached and flew closely over the top of the car, its wings spanning wider than the car's width. The other, still on the ground, was just below eye height as we went past.

Reaching Boboyan Road, which runs from Gudgenby Homestead to Adaminaby in New SOuth Wales, we now faced the trudge along the undulating gravel surface to Brawshaw's Hut on the last leg back to the car. Along the way, Bush Wallabys kept pace with us just outside the forest fringe.

Brayshaw's Hut in the late afternoon sun.

After a short stop at Brayshaw's Hut to take a picture, we embarked the real last leg of the journey whcih was, fortunately, 'downhill on average', arriving back at John's car just before 5PM in the fast-fading light.

While our 5-hour walk had turned into 7 hours and had started off in rain, it had turned into a brilliant day and I was pleased that, although footsore, everyone said that it had been a great walk.

Journey to the Mountains of the Moon - 1994 (14)

Our departure from Guy Yeoman Hut for Nyabitaba Hut at 9:30am was with very mixed feelings. This was the second to last leg of the trek and we were already completely knackered. Dominic was in pain from his dislocated/broken finger and neither of us was keeping up enough food intake to cope with the daily stresses. Nevertheless, waking up in the mornings and looking out at the wondrous views was enough to invigorate us for another day’s effort.

Pretending to fly at the top of one
of the steep descents - Guy Yeoman Hut
to Nyabitaba Hut

This day’s route again went through many bogs and also down some very steep rock faces. We had many slips but only gathered a few scratches and minor cuts. My trekking pole saved me from a couple of potentially nasty falls and ended up with a permanent bow in the middle which it has to this day.

Denisi helping Dominic down one of the steeper
parts of the gorge - Guy Yeoman Hut to Nyabitaba Hut

After the steep descents it was again through more bog. Eventually we reached the Nyabitaba Ridge and then there was only 30 minutes of walking to reach the hut. Along part of the ridge section was a small stream and the stream bed provided the easiest walking. It certainly made no difference to our moisture quotient! The total stage time was around seven hours and we were very tired by now. Before we could rest however there was the now-daily ritual of washing boots, gaiters, and socks.

Till made some minestrone soup which was very good and most welcome. Afterwards I played a bit of harmonica which seemed to be appreciated by all, including the four Austrians – or perhaps they appreciated it more when I stopped? Whatever. But then early to bed again to get some rest for the final day of the trek.

Final Leg - Nyabitaba Hut to Nyakalengija

Till and Pierre had said the previous evening that they wanted to be up early on this final day. I nearly died laughing as they had not shown any inclination to get up early before this. The one exception was their ‘summit’ day at Elena Hut. In the event they showed no inclination to start moving when I announced 7am.

Dominic and I packed up quickly and then started down to Nyakalengija at around 8:20am. It was a warm and sunny morning to walk down and the steep descent was very hard on our thighs which we used to control our speed. But joy of joys - there were NO bogs. We were, of course, overtaken by the others and the porters but we didn’t care.

After the main descent even the few short uphill stretches caused us to tire out but we reached the Park Gate after two hours having seen many colourful butterflies on the way. It took us another hour from the Park Gate to Nyakalengija where we met up again with Pierre and Till. As we arrived another two parties of four were preparing to go up. I had a very welcome ‘Coke’ while the others signed out and then it was into the pick-up truck around 12noon to go back to Kasese.

Pierre and Till were heading straight back to Kampala so we saw them onto the bus and made arrangements to keep in touch. Dominic and I planned to head off to Kampala the following day so we checked into the SAAD Hotel again for the night. We headed straight into the dining room and downed a litre of fruit juice each and then some sweet tea. We arranged for our washing to be done for Us3000 each which was very good value as our clothes were in a revolting state.

We had a back room this time and it overlooked a sort of courtyard in the hotel. here was a huge over-lander tourist truck parked just below us and it looked in pretty knocked around condition. Talking to some of the people from the touring party we heard tails of horror roads through the Congo causing very slow travelling.

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant and it was good to be able to eat properly again. We had both lost quite a bit of weight over the week but that wasn't really a concern as we both had a bit to spare before that anyway!

Journey to the Mountains of the Moon - 1994 (13)

At Elena Hut it was very cold overnight and snowed lightly in the morning. We enjoyed staying inside our warm sleeping bags when Pierre and Till went off with Denisi at 7am to head up to Margherita Peak at 5109 metres ASL. When I went outside at 8:30am for a toilet break I could see the three of them high up on the glacier.

Dominic was still feeling bad but we packed up and waited for the porters who arrived at 11:45am. Eventually we left for Kitandera Hut at 12:45pm. The route down was very steep and we found it quite tiring at that altitude. Once again our trekking poles proved their worth in helping to stabilise our descent. On reaching the lower ground it was, surprise surprise! once more through bog before we reached Kitandera Hut at about 4:30pm.

Mt Baker from Elena Hut

Kitandera Hut was in poor condition although weatherproof. Dominic was still feeling bad so he got straight into his sleeping bag to rest. The four Austrian guys were there and I begged some sugar from them to sweeten a cup of tea I made for Dominic to try to warm him up and get a small amount of nutrient inside him. Pierre and Till arrived at 5pm with Denisi who had fallen on the glacier and gashed his hand on his ice-axe. They had made the summit of Margherita and were glad to have done so. One of the ‘joys’ of Kitandera hut was that it was equipped with a gas burner so preparing a meal was fairly easy. Dominic didn’t have any because his stomach was playing up a bit.

Kitandera Lake (postcard)

Despite being much better acclimatised than we were, the porters do suffer from the effects of altitude and one of them came to me to get some aspirin for a headache. We were to have another heavy day the following day so we were early to bed to get some necessary rest.

Next day we left Kitandera Hut at about 9:45am heading for Guy Yeoman Hut. The first part of the walk was a very steep climb up to the plateau between Mt Baker and Mt Luigi Di Savoia. By this stage we were suffering from exhaustion due to lack of appetite caused by the altitude and that we were using up a lot of energy every day. The plateau led us on through the Freshfield Pass where the climb up and through the pass was very cold. As we carried on across more level ground Dominic slipped on a rock and, putting out his hand to save himself dislocated his right pinky. It may have been broken also but he refused to have it strapped as he wouldn’t have had enough manoeuvrability so we just carried on, with Dominic obviously in pain.

Snow on the plateau near Freshfield Pass

After the pass we started to descend through more of the ubiquitous bog. Our attitude to the bog was now starkly in contrast to how we had felt a few days before. Coming up through the Bigo Bog we had tried desperately to keep our boots dry. Now we just didn’t care so it was just a matter of taking the shortest possible route and ploughing on.

After five hours of negotiating the bog, often with mud up to the knees, Guy Yeoman Hut was a welcome sight but still two hours away and still through lots more bog.

On arrival at the Hut our first stop was down at the river to wash mud off boots and gaiters so that we could settle down knowing that we were prepared for tomorrow. Now that we had reached the safety of the hut Dominic allowed me to strap his fingers and then we got into our sleeping bags for a while to warm up. Dinner was more packet soup but Dominic again couldn’t eat any.

On these days around the middle of the trek, apart from breakfast and the evening soup, our main nutritional intake was sports drink made up from the powdered form we were carrying. We had also taken along some ‘Uncle Toby’s’ breakfast bars but found that they were too tough to eat when our appetites were down. It was all we could do to chew off one mouthful and then try to chew it up sufficiently to swallow. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time too! Early to bed after dinner was a very welcome idea.

Journey to the Mountains of the Moon - 1994 (12)

We left Bujuku Hut at a little after 10am, setting out for Elena Hut which is at 4540 metres ASL. The trail is boggy to start with. We are above Lake Bujuku but the area is a natural catchment at the head of the Bujuku river valley so gets a lot of seeping meltwater from the glaciers in the mountains above. After negotiating the boggy lower terrain it is steeply up over rocky ground and around cliffs. The ascent includes a ‘via ferrata’ style ladder which must be quite interesting for those who don’t like heights. We had time for a rest in the misty atmosphere at top of the ladder before carrying on to Elena Hut at 2:30pm.

Denisi, Dominic and Me at the top of the ladder
up from Bujuku Hut to Elena Hut

On arrival at the hut we found quite a number of people still there including an American Peace Corp lady who was waiting for her party to return from Margherita Peak. They had left for the ascent at yam and were expected back at around 2pm but they didn’t return until about 5:30pm. There was also a group of four Austrian climbers who were about to set off for Kitandera Hut. It was quite crowded with all those people present as Elena Hut is quite small. It has no sleeping platforms – you basically just slept on the floor which we were quite happy to do. There was no room for porters here so they usually go back down to Bujuku Hut for the night and come up again the following day.

While waiting the American lady was playing cards with two porters to pass the time.
When the Peace Corp party eventually arrived they still had to go on to Kitandera Hut – another three hours walking. Some of them would have stayed but it would have cost them another US$50 each for the night so eventually they headed off.

Elena Hut is near the bottom of the Elena and Savoia glaciers and the view of Savoia Peak and the other surrounding peaks is spectacular when the clouds lift.

Main Elena Hut and Porters Huts

Dominic and I only had soup for dinner as neither of us had any appetite – a side effect of high altitude. We knew we had to try to eat something, however, to keep up our strength. In the event Dominic chucked up some of his meal, reminiscent of his reaction to the dried fish noodles we had eaten at Old Moses Hut on Mt Kenya.

It was obvious that Dominic was suffering from the altitude – he was headachy and cold and very fatigued so we decided that we would not try for Margherita Peak the following day. Pierre and Till were raring to go so they would start off with Denisi early in the morning. We would wait for the porters to come back up and then go down to Kitandera Hut and Pierre and Till would follow on their return from the peak.

Till, Pierre and Denisi near Elena Hut

The outside toilet at Elena Hut sits a little way to the south-east near the edge of the cliff. The eastern side is open and has the most spectacular views of any toilet I have ever used. Facing east it looks out over the Mt Baker peaks about 400 metres higher than Elena Hut and about two kilometres away on the other side of the Scott-Elliott pass.

Elena Hut dunny - best view in the world!

Shanghai Nights (7)

My second week was taken up with fairly intensive training and I tended not to stray too far in the evenings for dinner. I did go out a couple of times - once to The Great Tang restaurant which was just a block away behind the hotel. The food and atmosphere were good but with the usual problem of eating alone and being unwilling to order dishes which wouldn't get finished. I guess I have a strong aversion to wasting food so I'd rather order too little and eat it all than order too much and waste a third of it.

On Wednesday evening I chose a restaurant just down the block near the corner of Dongfang Road and Weifang Road. It was absolutely packed with people but looked reasonably 'homely'. Being alone I got a table, even though there were people waiting in the foyer so I guess that's one advantage of eating alone. Looking through the menu I spotted a bowl of 'short' soup and indicated to the waitress that I would like that please. She responded with a most definite 'No!' so I tried again to make sure but got the same result. I ended up choosing a 'small' wok meal of stir-fry chicken. Two wok sizes were shown so I chose the small one thinking it would just be a nice sized meal for one. Wrong! It turned out to be at least 30cm wide and piled up with a fairly large meal - certainly enough for two hungry people without any rice etc to go with it. IN the end I don't think I quite made it through half of the meal but at around 50 Yuan (AU$9) I certainly wasn't concerned about the cost.

On Friday night, my last working day, Kyo kindly invited the whole team for dinner. Being the visitor I was asked what cuisine style I'd prefer. I'd already had Hunan cuisine but thought I would try it again. The restaurant Kyo chose was on Weifang Road not far from my hotel which was quite convenient. I can't remember the restaurant name but it had a bust of Chairman Mao, who came from Hunan, in the foyer.

Young, Jasmine, Me, Kyo, Charlie, and Frank at dinner

It was a very nice dinner and a fitting wrap up to my time in Shanghai.

During the week Kyo had asked me if I was planning to buy any presents for the family. I intended to go back to Yuyuen Gardens and just play it by ear. Pat had asked me to look out and see if I could find any embroidery silks so I mentioned that to Kyo. It turned out that Charlie's wife knows where to get them - just near YuYuen Gardens so it was arranged that Jasmine and Charlie and his wife - Ice - would meet me on Saturday and we would go shopping together. They would not only take me to the right place but also do the bargaining to make sure I wasn't overcharged.

Since my flight back to Australia was not until 8:20pm I arranged with the hotel for a 4pm checkout which would leave me plenty of time to get to the airport etc. I was already mostly packed up by the time Jasmine, Charlie and Ice came to pick me up so there would be little left to do on my return from shopping.

By now the taxi ride over to the western, Shanghai, side was becoming familiar and I no longer felt totally lost when we got into the narrower streets of the old town on the way to Yuyuen Gardens. That's not to say that I could confidently navigate myself but at least I felt that I could probably find my way back to (say) the Bund without too much drama.

Being Saturday the Yuyuen Gardens and surrounding areas was packed with tourists and local people. We walked through the gardens shopping area and I surveyed the shops and stalls to see if anything triggered the 'that's it' response for something for Dominic, Garth and Leonore. A few things had some appeal but then we were exiting from another portal to go to the more modern market where the embroidery silks would be. Charlie and Ice went in to find the particular stall while Jasmine and I just ambled around the narrow aisles to await Charlie's call. The building was full of stall selling a huge variety of goods. The aisles are about a metre wide but some of that is taken up by the stock overflowing the fronts and of course people stopping to examine the goods made navigation very slow.

Eventually Jasmine's phone rang and we met Charlie at the front to go to the particular shop Ice had chosen. True to promise, the shopkeeper had a wide range of embroidery silks in 15 metre hanks and a price of 3 Yuan each (Au 50c) had been negotiated so I bought an unchosen assortment of 50 from the bag. Trying to choose them would have taken half the day and I probably wouldn't have come up with a better selection anyway.

Street scene near Yuyuen Gardens, Shanghai

Leaving the crowded market building we went back to Yuyuen Gardens shopping area. As we moved along I decided on a name seal each for 'the kids' with their name in Chinese characters. Several shops were selling these with promise of about 10 minutes to do the actual name carving. I chose some nice seal stones which had the appropriate Chinese Zodiac animal on them and then Charlie and Jasmine started the bidding war. The starting price of 280 Yuan each was obviously too high and little pprogress was made until Charlie turned to me and said "OK - let's go - we'll find somewhere else". The atmosphere changed very quickly and a price of 100 Yuan each was agreed, inclusive of name carving. I duly pointed out the correct names in the book which they have and then we had to go to another shop where the actual carving is done.

Carving name seals, Yuyuen Gardens, Shanghai

After the carving was done we wandered back out looking at some of the other stalls on the way. One could spend a whole day or more in there and still not see everything of interest. One shop of interest to me was a musical instrument shop where they had traditional Chinese instruments like the Erhu, as well as western instruments. I would dearly have liked to bring something back like an Erhu but I didn't think it would pass AQIS controls with the snakeskin soundhead etc. One instrument they had was the most enormous harmonica I have ever seen. It must have been about 30 centimetres long and would be quite heavy I imagine.

Leaving the Gardens we found a taxi to take us to lunch. Jasmine, Ice and Charlie had chosen a Korean restaurant at Peoples Square where the food is cooked on a gas-fired barbecue at the table. It was very good but again I had trouble with the metal Korean chopsticks. I must be improving though as I did get enough to eat. After lunch I bid farewell to Charlie and Ice and Jasmine and I took a taxi back to the hotel. Jasmine lives nearby the hotel so it was convenient for her to go home from there. After I farewelled Jasmine I had a couple of hours to kill before heading off to the airport and this gave me time to finish packing etc and mentally prepare myself for returning to Australia.

I had decided to use the Maglev train to get to the airport, just to say that I had done it. The terminal is close to the Longyang Road metro station so I took a taxi there from the hotel and paid my 40 Yuan. The one-way 30km trip usually costs 50 Yuan but bona-fide air travellers with an airline ticket for that day get a 10 Yuan discount.

The train left soon after I boarded and was soon up to 200 km/h and rising towards its maximum speed of 430 km/h. It only holds maximum speed for about 2 minutes and there is little to guage the speed by. It sort of felt like a jet aircraft going down the runway for take off. Fortunately it never left the track. The jpurey from Longyang Road to the airport takes only 8 minutes - considerably less than the taxi ride.

I was a bit early for the flight but was well placed for when the check-in opened so that I could get the seating I wanted. Once through to the gate lounge I was struck by the similarity between Pudong Airport building and the new international airport buildings in Bangkok. I haven't researched it but they appeared to be very similar in design.

Anyway, the flight left on time and the rest, as they say, is mystory.

Shanghai Nights (6)

Continuing my wandering through the lanes of Zhujiajiao I crossed yet another bridge and headed towards the City God Temple.

Gates of The City God Temple, Zhujiajiao

Just opposite the gates of The City God Temple is a large frieze but I couldn't see anything that tells what it portrays. Possibly it's a tale of The City God vanquishing some evil foe.

Frieze opposite City God Temple, Zhujiajiao

Leaving the City God Temple I ambled further on and came to the Qing Dynasty era Post Office.

Qing Dynasty Post Office

The Qing Dynasty Post Office was one of 13 around Shanghai established around 1903 as the notice board says. There is a large cast iron post box with a dragon entwined around it just outside of post office itself.

Qing Dynasty cast-iron Post Box

By this time I had been wandering around for about four and a half hours, and apart from a half-hour at lunch I hadn't sat down at all. The previous day I had developed Plantar Fasciitis in my right foot (although I didn't know what it was at the time) which mad walking quite painful. Anyway I thought I'd call it a day so I crossed yet another bridge to get back to the main part of the village and headed towards where the buses would be. I got there just as the bus I came on was getting ready to leave so I jumped gratefully on board for the trip back to Shanghai. I think they just fill up the bus and when it is full they head off - pretty much like the practice with buses in rural East Africa.

On arrival back at the bus terminal in Shanghai I had my first experience of hailing a taxi by myself. Having flagged one down I showed my St Regis Hotel directions card to the taxi driver who got me back their without getting lost, for which I was very happy.

Not being particularly hungry that night I thought I would try out the in-house Chinese restaurant at the hotel. There weren't many people in the main part of the restaurant but a couple of the private rooms were in use. I had a dish with crumbed chicken served in a very nice orange sauce - very tasty.

Shanghai Nights (5)

While talking with Peter on Saturday evening over dinner, he asked me what my plans were for Sunday. I had thought to go to Suzhou, a well known 'silk' city. Getting there would probably be a bit difficult but I could go by train. Peter suggested Zhujiajiao as an alternative. This is an old canal village situated near Tai Lake to the west of Shanghai. To get there I needed to get a taxi from the hotel to the Tourist Bus Station (Xujiahui Bus Station) and then ask for the right bus. To help me with this Peter kindly wrote the names in Chinese and Pinyin in my 'Best of Shanghai' Lonely Planet guide. He suggested that I start out earlyish from the hotel as it takes about an hour for the bus ride, so I duly set off on Sunday morning at around 8:30am. With less traffic on the road it only took about 20 minutes by taxi (about 35 Yuan) to the bus station which was already crowded by the time I arrived. The bus station is, of course, on the Shanghai side of the river beside a sports stadium. To get there we crossed the Nanpu Bridge again which gave me another opportunity to marvel at the engineering. Here is a Google Earth view of the on/off 'ramp' on the Eastern side of the Huangpu River.

On/off ramp of Nanpu Bridge, Shanghai side

Peter's notation in my guide book was invaluable when I 'asked' at the information desk how to get to Zhujiajiao. The very helpful girl pointed to the right queue and told me 'line 4'. As I joined the queue I noticed a young Chinese man and woman just in front of me reading an English guide sheet for Zhujiajiao so I asked them if they were also going there. They were, as it happened, and I discovered that Christopher and Laura were from Australia's Gold Coast and Mary, a Shanghai girl, was taking them to the village for the day out. Since we were going to the same place I knew that if I kept an eye on them then I'd be able to make sure to get off the bus at the right time. Once we were on the bus I sat with Christopher and we discussed his business trip to Shanghai. It turned out that he is a travel promoter for Dreamworld and was in Shanghai to promote tourism to the Gold Coast and, of course Dreamworld, at a travel trade conference.

The hour-long bus trip to Zhujiajiao (cost 12 Yuan each way) was along good roads with a mixture of residential development, light industrial and trade buildings, and what we would normally call 'market gardens' along the way. Two fo the roads were actually toll ways and the bus had to stop on each to pay the tariff. On reaching Zhu Jia Jiao the bus stopped at a large car and bus park which already had several empty buses waiting for the return journey as well as being pretty full of cars etc. As we got off Mary made sure that I understood that I needed to get back to the bus by 4pm at the latest otherwise I might have trouble getting back to Shanghai.

Zhujiajiao
Peter had described the village to me but I really had little idea of what to expect. Since I've been back home I looked up on the internet and came across a bit of a write up here (Zhujiajiao). Following the people streaming from the car and bus park I reached the entrance and my attempt to follow some locals in was thwarted by the ticket police. Ten Yuan later I was in the actual village and following the crowds down narrow laneways filled with food and souvenir vendors on both sides. Not far from the entrance was an Archaeological Museum so I paid 8 Yuan to have a wander around. There were many artefacts retrieved from archaeological digs in the local area, with finds dating back about 5000 years.

Out of the museum and wandering the crowded lanes again I avoided making eye contact with any of the souvenir sellers and ignored their entreaties to buy this that or the other with a dismissive, but not rude, wave of the hand. Periodically along the lane ways, there are openings off to the side where a bridge rises to cross a canal. Some of these bridges date back to the Ming Dynasty period which makes them many hundreds of years old, although they show no signs of disrepair. Here is a view from the top of the first one I climbed, showing the typical building structures along the canal.

Canal view, Zhu Jia Jiao

Its important to realise that, although much of the village is given over to tourism and extracting money from same, the buildings are also used as village dwellings. In the picture above, the Sampan style boat is one of many taking tourists to view the village from the canals. I didn't bother going on one of these boat rides as I was happy just to roam along at my own pace, even through the jostling crowds. You can also see from the picture that it was a beautiful day, although cool, and I even ended up with a bit of sunburn on the forehead. I didn't even think to take a hat with me.

View of boats for hire on the river, Zhu Jia Jiao
Note the solar panels on the roof across the river!

I was able to resist most of the street vendors offers to relieve me of some cash but I bought a soft hat for Pat and a couple of 'devil mask' fridge magnets. I wasn't attracted by the food on offer at the street stalls as it had a smell which I found strange.

Strolling on I came to one of the oldest and most famous of the bridges in the village - Fangsheng Bridge. Here is a shot of it from further down the canal.

View of Fangsheng Bridge, Zhujiajiao

As you can see there are many people crossing the bridge. Most of the tourist shops are situated on the right side of this canal/river. The restaurant where I had lunch is just over on the right although I approached it from one of the narrow streets behind the buildings. While I was wandering around the streets and canals on the left hand side prior to having lunch, I had seen a group of three women who were singing some local folksy song to entertain the tourists (for money of course). While I was sitting at lunch the same group of women wandered in through the restaurant and came to my table to sing to me - without invitation.

Lunchtime entertainment, Zhujiajiao

I let them sing their little song and gave them a couple of Yuan each for the pleasure. I had no idea whether that was enough but I was pretty sure it wasn't 'too much' as 2 Yuan is only about 33c Australian. They seemed happy enough though because they went on there way without trying to toss me in the canal.

After lunch I wandered along more crowded byways and ended up across another bridge. I was amused to see 'pop the balloons' attractions using plastic pellet guns, just beside the pedestrian thoroughfare.

'Pop the balloons', Zhujiajiao

This struck me as a possibly dangerous practice that could result in someone losing an eye or otherwise being caused injury. However, I didn't see anyway actually trying their luck so perhaps 'casualties' are as few as patrons!