Midnight arrival in Guangzhou.

Arriving at Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou,China thirty minutes pass midnight can be a big problem in terms of transportation and place to sleep.

I was joined by a Muslim couple from Malaysia who were also first timer here. A large section of the arrival halls have lights switched off as we we were on the last plane to land and airport security personnels discouraged us from hanging around here.

 A few unlicensed minivans were around soliciting their services but we have no plans of heading into the city in the wee hours.

My main decision was to locate the Departure Hall and spend a night there.

Inside the arrival hall,turn to your right a short distance away is the escalator which will lead you to the skybridge linking to the main Departure Hall.

The escalators worked on sensors whereby if one were about to step on it,then only will it move.
No trolleys were allowed onto the escalators so the other alternative is using the lift elevator and head to the second floor.





The Pullman Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport(pinyin:Jichang) Hotel(pinyin:Jiudian) is a five star business class hotel with room rates from 900Yuan till 1760Yuan and is less than 10 minutes walk from Departure Hall.

At the Departure Hall,seating area were limited so we have to be contented seating on the floor at one corner near the handphone charging points outlets.

 If you go to the first floor where restaurants were located ,ample seats were available including kiosks for charging handphone.

There is also a dispenser for hot and cold drinking water beside the washroom at the Departure Hall near Counter H.








Adina Chan,a Muslim with her husband not in photo and Chinese National Miss Lin Win from Fuzhou Province.

We all spent a sleepless night at the Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport exchanging views and fostering our friendship.

Adina Chan is also involved in internet marketing while Miss Lin Win who will be catching an early morning flight home has just completed her Master in Biology from the University of Florida.

Her next ambition is to pursue for the Phd Degree and is looking forward to complete it in the United States.








Guangzhou is the capital city of Guangdong Province or alternative English name Kwangtung province.

 This is the place of origin where Cantonese speaking overseas Chinese communities  has its roots.

Guangdong Province main economic hub is Shenzhen and together with Guangzhou are the most populous cities in China having a total 120 million permanent residents and migrants put together.

 Guangdong has a humid subtropical climate inland though nearing a tropical climate in the far south. Winters are short, mild, and relatively dry, while summers are long, hot, and very wet.

The city of Guangzhou is further divided into six districts and most travellers will stay round
1) Liwan,
2)YueXiu,
3)TianHe,
4)Haizhu,
5)Huang Pu and 6)north of Panyu.

 The original Yuexiu District with a history of over 2000 years is the birthplace of Guangzhou.

Since the ancient times, it has had a strong commercial atmosphere and we still remember it was called Canton at that time.

The Old Canton Backpackers Guesthouse is located around here and do not just hop in to get accomodation.Room occupancy is very high throughout the year.

Another best place to find accomodations is around Liwan area where there are many three star hotels with room rates around 140 Yuan.

The original Liwan features a lot of ancient buildings and the prosperous Shangxiajiu shopping area. Liwan District is located in the west of downtown Guangzhou, on the east and north bank of the Pearl River.
The new Liwan is aimed at building a modern trade and cultural tourism area after adding Fangcun, which enjoys a reputation of "the first flower county in Lingnan."






Guangzhou was historically called Canton derived from a Portuguese transliteration of "Guangdong" which refers only the provincial capital.

 If you are a leisure traveller,do not come to Guangzhou during the Canton Fair which is the largest biannual China trade fairs held in Guangzhou.

Hotel rooms will be inflated due to overwhelming demand exceeding supply.
•Phase 1: 15th-19th Oct. 2012 9:30-18:00
•Phase 2: 23rd-27th Oct. 2012 9:30-18:00
•Phase 3: 31st Oct- 4th Nov. 2012 9:30-18:00

Canton Fair Complex, the largest modernized exhibition center in Asia, is located at No. 380, Yuejiang Zhong Road in Pazhou Island, Guangzhou, China.
Canton Fair Buyers enjoy free shuttle bus or hotel bus or you may take Metro Line 8 and get off at the Xingangdong Station or the Pazhou Station.





  In 2011, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was China's 2nd busiest and world's 19th busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, with 45,040,340 people handled.

The underground subway Metro train lines were very fast and efficient mass rapid transit line.

Airport South is the the final stop from the city's line 3 which operates from 06:10 till 23:00.

The fares is 7 Yuan to TiYu Xilu interchange.(you need not have to pay further fares during station interchange as long as you did not exit the station.
No washroom within station itself.







With a total length of 18.48 kilometers, the Guangzhou Subway Line 1 is made up of 16 stations, including Guangzhou East Railway Station – Tianhe Sports Center – Tiyu Xi Lu – Yangji – Dongshankou – Martyr's Cemetery – Peasant Movement Institute – Gongyuanqian – Ximenkou – Chen Clan Academy – Changshou Lu – Huangsha – Fangcun – Huadiwan – Kengkou – Xilang

At the following stations of Line 1, you can transfer to other subway lines: Gongyuanqian → Line 2 Yangji → Line 5 Tiyu Xi Lu / Guangzhou East Railway Station → Line 3 (to Airport S) Xilang Station → GuangFo Line(32.16 kilometers from east at Lijiao of Guangzhou to west at Kuiqi Road in Foshan.






 In the event travellers do not have small notes or 1 Yuan coins,near the entry to the Metro terminal is a booth where one can exchange the big notes.
 The officer here is also very helpful in providing guidance and they do speak a little English as well.








The enquiry and Metro line schedule screen to assist travellers.
At the Departure Hall,go to the lower basement where the Metro line 3 is located. During morning rush hours,the train can be overly crowded and you might miss getting out at specific station as other passengers might block the exit door.
The door only opens for one minute. Don't worry just continue the journey and get off at other stations and just take the reverse train.

There's a LED display of the route station stops near the door so the best way is to count the number of stops that you need to get out.

There'll be an English/Mandarin announcement at each station stops. As long as you do not checkout(putting the plastic coin into the exit slot) of the terminal,you can just sit inside the train whole day but mind you there's no sceneries to see.






Single-trip ticket(a plactic coin token) is often used by tourists.
It is only valid on the day when you purchase it. You can return a single-trip ticket within 30 minutes after you buy it.
 Tips how to purchase a single-trip ticket:
a).Find the TVM (Ticket Vendor Machine) according to the signs in the subway station; b).Choose the station on the machine's screen; c).Make sure how many tickets you want to buy;
 d).Pay for the ticket according to the amount of the money shown on the screen;
 e).Get the ticket and the change. Remark:

The machine only accepts CNY5, CNY10 and the coins of CNY0.5 (5 Jiao coin) and CNY1 (1 Yuan coin).

Bus enroute to Poipet town

At 6:30am,the skies over Phnom Penh was already very bright.
I have booked a bus ticket to Bangkok through my guesthouse with a free pick-up this morning.

The mini-van came around 6:45am and sent me to GST bus company near Psar Thmey.

The 7:00am bus for departure was already on standby.

The Cambodia's Airport tax was a hefty USD25.00 while my bus fare to Bangkok was USD18.00 and travelling overland provides opportunities to see more of Thailand.

My homebase was easily accessible by road. I was just wondering why the local airport management needed a Malaysian government linked company to manage its small airport .That's the reason for the high airport tax.

You'll be surprised that this man who own the floating casino near Sisowath Quay is the economic adviser to the Cambodian prime minister.
His company was rejected from applying for listing in the Stock Exchange of Singapore for fear of money laundering.
No wonder this country has a very good ally.

At the corner Street 217 and street 67, was a M'sian owned bus company--Ho Wah Genting which is now renamed Sorya Bus Company.
15 minutes after leaving Phnom Penh city,the bus travelled beside the Tonle Sap Lake .

There were a few garment factories and some light industries seen along the way.
The bus was just half filled with many vacant seats.
At a small town called Udong,the bus stopped and picked up some passengers.
It seemed that this aircond bus was not an express bus.

Udong was the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire about 40 km northwest of Phnom Penh.
Understand that there were many stupas and shrines housing the remains of former Khmer kings around here.

Nearly 2 hours travelling,the bus made another stop at Kampong Chhnang.
Along the route here were some mosques and many Muslim commune.

The bus seats were now completely filled.There were passengers having to stand for the onward journey to Poipet.

Somewhere near Pursat town(186km northwest of Phnom Penh) ,we had our lunch break at a food outlet possibly owned by the bus company.

Feeling hungry since not having any breakfast this morning,I ordered 2 plates of rice with some veges,pork and chicken to fill my stomach.
Imagine I was slapped with a bill of Baht140, a blardy daylight robbery taking advantage due to language barrier.

Earlier I've requested paying in baht as I was short of the riel. With that kind of price,I could have a sumptuous lunch in a restoran in Bangkok.

Ok,so what's great about Pursat town? Pursat would have been mentioned less without the tomb of a Khmer national hero Kleang Meung, who sacrificed his life and defeated the Thais in a battle in 1482.
Eco-tourism is also the main attraction.



As we arrived in Battambang,the bus stopped at the company's office to fill up gasoline.
Battambang is 94.2km from Poipet.
Bus Stop Guesthouse in town centre is USD20.00(aircond room).Located at 149 2nd Rd next door to The White Rose Restaurant.

In the town centre roundabout was a statue of an ancient Khmer King holding a stick which he used to quell rebellions in the Battambang area.

Battambang places of interest includes:
1)Phnom Sampeu, a hill with the Killing Caves of the Khmer Rouge.
2)Wat Banan, the so-called mini-Angkor wat.
3)Wat Baydamram, a temple where hundreds of fruit bats.
4)Wat Ek Phnom, another Angkor-type temple ruin, about 15km north west of Battambang.





Finally around 3:30pm,the bus reached Poipet town and stopped beside a shop where the journey ends.
Most of the other passengers proceeded on their own way leaving behind myself,a French guy and four other Cambodians who have bought a direct Bangkok ticket.
There was no bus terminal around here. Now we were all in a dilemma.
The bus company in Phnom Penh didn't inform us about transport switching across the border.
Again communication barrier,the bus driver seemed to have no concern about Bangkok ticket holders.



 A few minutes later,a "company representative" came and told us to hang on while he contacted the taxi people.
He got the chick to say no taxi available.
Looked like he was taking everyone for a ride.
 Minutes passed and it was nearly 4:30pm,
Poipet town was a very quiet place,few vehicles with the wide roads
.Finally he came and said transport available so we all jumped into the cyclo for a 1km ride to the border.
 Again we (myself and the gentleman from France) made a damn silly mistake.
Forgot to ask where should we meet after the immigration formalities.



  Beside where the bus stop was a chinese owned hotel:-Phkar Chouk Meas Hotel.

  Quite a new building.

Kim Hock Guesthouse along the same row.



Chav Phaya Guesthouse.

 This building is the Viroch Hotel near the entrance road to the many casinos and the border immigration office.





Premium hotels near the traffic circle.

The first sight is the Tropicana Resort and Casino Arch.

One has to pass by all the casinos buildings before reaching the Cambodian immigration office.

 An onion shaped dome top that resembles a worship place but that couldn't be as gambling is against that particular religion.





Poipet Casino Resort. Room rates from USD70-USD100.

  Holiday Palace Resort and Casino.
They have promoters near the border giving out business cards with website addresses for online gambling.
 


The main entrance to Holiday Palace.


Crown Resort and Casino. A replica of Angkor Thom as an added landscape in front of Crown casino.

 A mini Angkor Wat arch gate on the international border boundary with Thailand.

Poipet the frontier and haeven for all king gamblers. Exiting from this point is another 50metres to the Thai Immigration checkpoint.






Cambodian Immigration Office building.

Hanoi street scene

Senior assistants from one Australian college checking in at the Hanoi Youth Hostel.

A night before their arrival,hosteliers who were currently occupying were being informed to check out as the Aussie group has booked the whole dorm in advance.

The management owner Mr Trinh Van Nam was very kind enough to offer an alternative place at the same price which is their main branch at Cau Go Street.

Having stayed nearly a week in this nice hostel,I'll be catching my flight the following day so did not continue my stay.

Young Aussie students participating in The World Challenge.

This is something very interesting where youth of today can gain exposure in real world adventures beyond frontier touring undiscovered destinations.

 Their living skills and environmental interactions putting into practise will enhance their knowledge which will be of great assets to them.

Chinese bikers leaving hostel with their new bikes.

They have been cycling cross-country from Kunming,Yunnan Province to Hanoi.

One of their lady friend has taken a bus home and you'll noticed that one of them has no more baggage.

Their carelessness in safe guarding their properties was very costly.

Luckily their own embassy people came to provide some assistance.

The main fault is that three of them came up to the dorm and check if there's any vacancy without having one guarding the bikes and bagages.
That was at 8:45pm when one of them approached me to enquire.

  A visit to Hanoi wil not be complete without visiting the Thang Long Puppet Theater (Nhà hát múa rối Thăng Long) located at Dinh Tien Hoang Street, just across the north of Hoan Kiem Lake.

 The show is amazing coupled with the good acoustics sound system.
The daily showtimes are 5.30 pm, 7.00 pm ,8 pm and 9:15pm.Sunday is at 9;30am only.
The counter closes at 6.45 pm to 7.30 pm.
Ticket prices are from 60,000-100,000VND.

  Ngoc Son Pagoda Temple (Jade Temple) just across Thang Long Puppet Theater on Hoan Kiem Lake.

 Built in the early 19th century,the temple was dedicated to Confucian and Taoist philosophers and the national hero Tran Hung Dao.
Tickets(12,000 VND) are purchased at a booth located on the left-hand side before you cross the bridge.

The temple opens at 08:00 and closes at 17:00 every day and its best to get to the lake as early as possible to watch the locals do their morning yoga and Tai Chi.

From the shore the 'Welcoming Morning Sunlight Bridge' (Cầu Thê Húc) leads to the island.

Buildings of the temple include the Pen Tower (Thap But), the ink-slab (Dai Nghien), the Moon Contemplation Pavilion (Dac Nguyet) and the Pavilion against Waves (Đình Trấn Ba), all of which have symbolic meaning.





For the convenience of tourist the tricycle ferries passengers all around Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarters area.

Mini Electric bus with price ranging from 150,000 to 250,000VND also provide tour services around the Old Quarters.

  Pretty Vietnamese ladies with their traditional costumes 'Ao Dai'

In the evening,the street side cafes came bustling with tourists enjoying their food and Bia Hoi .

During the night on Friday,Saturday and Sunday,the streets of Old Quarters from Dong Xuan Market extending till Hang Dao Street became a night market walking street.

There were many stalls showcasing a variety of products.







Entrance to residential house around Phan dinh Phung Street.




Olden days houses in Hanoi have side entrance.
They were mostly one-storey houses, only some having second storey, generally low and without windows or having very small windows (according to ancient rules under the past dynasties, inhabitants were forbidden to look at the King when he happened to pass before their houses, and especially to look at him from a higher place).





This huge castle beside Ho Tay lake near the same row with Brazilian Embassy was up for sale.

Section of the central old citadel of Hanoi which was once the former residence of Vietnamese monarchs dating back to Đại Việt, when the city was known as Thăng Long.

In 2010 the citadel was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "The Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long - Hanoi".





Tunnel House. This possibly also act as an air raid shelter.

Bamboo pipe smoking is commonly seen in some of the sidewalks.
In Vietnam, it is most commonly smoked after a meal on a full stomach to aid in digestion, or along with green tea or local beer (most commonly the cheap "bia hoi").

A "hit" of thuoc lao is followed by a flood of nicotine to the bloodstream inducing strong dizziness that lasts several seconds.

 It should be said however that even heavy smokers have had trouble with the intense volume of smoke and that side effects include nausea and vomiting.

My regular meal was at this shop which offers economy rice with 3 dishes costing 20,000 VND.
This is something homecooked and there were a variety of dishes to choose.

 A family run shop with limited seating place so many of the locals prefer to have takeaway.
 The place is behind Dong Xuan market just opposite Le Loi Middle School.




 Truong Trung Hoi Co So Le Loi or Le Loi Middle School.

 Le Loi, also called Binh Dinh Vuong or Thuan Thien, reign title Le Thai To (flourished 1428–43, Lam Son, Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam), Vietnamese general and emperor who won back independence for Vietnam from China in 1428, founded the Le dynasty, and became the most honoured Vietnamese hero of the medieval period.




The word 'Middle School' is commonly used in China so this implies that this must be a Mandarin speaking school.
Most Southeast Asian chinese schools also use the same wording.




The majestic Saint Joseph Catholic Church. In the late evening after school dismissal,you can see lots of young school children hanging around the compound waiting to go home.
There were three schools nearby.
Gecko Backpackers Hostel is a short distance from here.


 


The State Bank Building or the Central Bank has a dome shaped top that resembled the Vietcong cap.

Shop selling ethnic products.

  SWAROVSKI,a major outlet in the sale of crystal jewellery accessories.
 Location:Avalon Cafe Lounge Building near Dong Kinh Ngia Thuc Square,north of Hoan Kiem Lake.