It’s time for us to leave Yunnan and make our way into Sichuan province, famous for its spicy food and pandas and while many people visit for those two reasons we’re here for others; the mountains and to visit the Tibetan villages and towns. Our first stop was Yading Nature Reserve which took us about…
Tag: nature
Hiking to the true Shangri-La | The remote village of Yubeng, China
The remote village of Yubeng sits in a dramatic location on the side of a valley with a jaw dropping view of the Meilo Snow Mountain Range which forms a natural border with Tibet. One of those peaks is the mighty Kawa Karpo which is 6740m and the highest in Yunnan. Sadly you can now…
Two day one night hike through Tiger Leaping Gorge | Yunnan, China
Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of Yunnan’s must see sights and on most travellers radar. It’s said to be one of the deepest gorges in the world at a maximum depth of 3,790 meters from river to mountain peak. Thanks to it’s popularity a hostel in Lijiang arranges bus tickets to drop tourists off at…
Exploring the dramatic landscapes at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain | China
Lijiang is a perfect base to explore Jade Dragon Snow Mountain just an hour away. It’s a scenic mountain location which is very popular due to its easy access from the ancient town. There was a bus straight from the city at 7am which we hopped on and the closer we got the busier it…
Searching for the bluest water in Xiaoqikong | China
The scenic area of Xiaoqikong wasn’t in my guide book or on travel blogs, I ended up finding it from scanning the map of China and being drawn in by the intense blue water. It turned out to be fairly easy to reach, involving two high speed trains and then a taxi for the final…
Meeting the locals in traditional Dong villages | China
Zhaoxing is a traditional village, all made of wood and home to the Dong ethnic minority group. It used to just be a special place where a few western tourists came to see a real Chinese village but with the high speed railway being built it’s brought with it the domestic tourists. Luckily the village…
Exploring the karst peaks along the Li River | China
The city of Yangshuo is nestled between the dramatic karst peaks that spread across this scenic corner of Guangxi. It’s a place we really enjoyed on our last visit, hence us deciding to come back and even stay in the same hostel. The hostel was based a bit out the city so the patio area…
The Longji Rice Terraces |China
We couldn’t decide whether it was worth returning to the Longji rice terraces as our previous experience wasn’t a great one. We arrived on a cold January day 8 years ago and the guesthouse we booked wasn’t where it said it would be on the map which meant we had to hike all the way…
Swimming with nurse sharks in the Maldives
Quite remarkable how we could pick the worst weather day in a 16 day holiday to do the one tour of the trip. But alas, that’s how we roll apparently. We’d actually been meaning to go for a couple of days but our host said he didn’t have a boat available the first day and…
Budget travel in the Maldives | Sunsets, storms and sharks
It’s time for us to travel to the second local island on this trip so we’ve opted to stay on Huraa until 1pm when we can catch the very reasonably priced $10 speedboat back to Male and we’ll just have a one and a half hour wait until our public ferry to the next atoll…
NON STOP TRAVELLING 