I put up yesterday’s post on our Thanksgiving at the Posada Salentein in Argentina and immediately thought, “Hmm, that’s going to be pretty confusing to any friends or family who read our blog to follow along with where we are and what we’re doing.”
We are in Koh Lanta in Thailand, we’ve been here for nearly a week as a travel break before heading into China. It was also supposed to be a beach break, but the weather isn’t cooperating on that front – it’s warm here, but it’s been raining a lot. We’ve had a couple of good beach days and a great day diving, but mostly we’re holed up in our hotel room. (A spacious family room at the Lanta Residence guesthouse for $35 a night, thank you very much!).
The kids are catching up on schoolwork. I’m catching up by writing up reviews of some of my favorite places where we’ve stayed in the past few months. Both Murph and I are reading, researching and planning the next segments of our trip.
We arrive in Hong Kong April 2nd. Normal posts about where we are and what we’ve been doing should continue around then. If you have suggestions or ideas for how we should spend our time in China, do leave a comment below.
China is amazing! As an American, I don’t think my education ever prepared me for all we would see. China was closed off for so long that the rest of the world is still discovering it, it would seem. I was in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Beijing in late November/early Dec for work and play.
Hong Kong- I did not do Hong Kong right at all, but you will not have the jetlag or bedtime restrictions we did. Temple Night market was really cool to see being set up during the day. Sadly we never made it at night. Kowloon park was fun on the weekend. Locals would gather for their various activities (sword practice, drum dancing, tai chi, etc.) There was also a little bird sanctuary. I’m kicking myself for not getting to the escalator on Hong Kong island. That is a must next time we go.
Shenzhen- very strange little (well big) city. We stayed in the OTC. There were loads of little theme parks like Splendid China and Window of the World. All were very cheap to get into (under US$10) and a fun half day trip. Windown of the World basically has miniatures of all the worlds great sights- pyramids, Taj Majal, etc. Nothing from China though. That’s all in Splendid China. I hear the shopping downtown is also amazing, but because I was working in Shenzhen, we didn’t do a whole lot.
Beijing- the bigger sights were amazing. Forbidden City, Coal Hill, Winter Palace, Summer Palace, etc. Just wandering the streets was fun too. We did a tour to the Great Wall, but I’m not sure I would do a similar tour again. Either go for one of the trekking tours or see if it’s just as cheap to hire a car to take you out. The problem with our tour was that we had to do all the sales stops. First we went to the Sacred Way. It was OK, but not the tombs. Then we had to stop at the Chinese Medicine shop for their pitch and the the Jade factory for their sales tour and then lunch. Finally we got to the Great Wall, which really is amazing and totally worth it, but we only got to spend two hours there. With a 1 year old in tow that isn’t enough time at all to explore.
Check out my blog if you want a little more on China. I have a backlog of stories and reports to still put up and it’s a little all over the place since I just started it. I’m having fun though. It’s nice to recall all these memories for my son to read one day. He definitely won’t remember that he walked around and slept through World Heritage Sights.
Have a fantastic time! I can’t wait to read about your trip through China.
@Keryn, Thanks for such a long comment with all that detail!
We’ll be heading to Beijing at the end of the month, so I’ll keep your tips about trek vs tour in mind.
And I’ll check your blog of course!