Journey to the West - 西藏 Tibet and Mt Everest Base Camp

I've finally saved enough for my next adventure to the West YAY. I can't wait to enter the journey here - it was a tough journey, battling with altitude sickness and the rapid change of weather. Still, when i scan through the pictures i took, it was worth it.

To start with, i was never a fit person i guess, but i did what i can to prevent the onset of altitude sickness. I goggled and found that 红景天 Hong Jing Tian helps and started drinking it 2 weeks prior to the trip. Even though i still suffered occasional headaches throughout the journey, i believed it still help somehow or another.

Route taken: 成都 Chengdu -> 西宁 Xining -> 拉萨 Lhasa (Altitude = 3800km) -> 日喀则 Shigatse (Altitude = 3800km) -> 定日Tingri (Altitude = 4500km) -> Mt Everest Base Camp (Altitude = 5200km) -> 日喀则 Shigatse (Altitude = 3800km) -> 拉萨 Lhasa (Altitude = 3800km) -> 成都 Chengdu

Western Food in Guang Zhou

Western food in Guangzhou is generally more expensive than local food. Don't expect western food in it's original form in any case as most have been 'altered' to suit the local taste. Still, it's worth trying! haha!

Rosti in creamy mushroom sauce





Dessert: Tiramisu served with fresh fruits


Cream of mushroom soup served with garlic bread


Rosti with sausage and bacon

Street Food in Guang Zhou

Rice dumpling coated with peanut & sugar



Desserts galore!
Black sesame paste & red bean paste







Guangzhou is never complete with braised innards



Curry Fishball

Dim Sum in Guang Zhou

Dim Sum!!!!
Finally got the chance to try the local delicacy! yeah!! Luckily we were on our adventurous streak and didn't opt for the breakfast provided by the hotel (which by the way, cost 50RMB each. It doesn't sound much but let me tell you... we ate at a local Dim Sum restaurant and it costs us only 69RMB for all 3 of us!! heh heh. Motto of the story: Be adventurous!)

Anyway, this is the first Dim Sum place we went for on our first morning in Guang Zhou. :)

Unlike Dim Sum served in SG, the Chinese tea are always served with a pot of hot water and full sets of tea cups.



Braised Chicken Feet



Siew Mai!! The prawns are served as a whole and not mashed up as some paste.



Ha Gau. Am really loving a whole prawn concept :)





Introducing, Egg Tarts, Char Siew Sou and Egg Custard steamed buns.









Custard Egg bun



This come in a shock actually. We ordered Chee Cheong Fun but apparently, their Chee Cheong Fun means something else. BUT... the gravy is really really good and it's served with braised pork. What more can you ask for?

Eating in Guangzhou

Guang Zhou isn't a place to eat western food but i was just looking for something different. Something for a change so i ordered a western set and surprisingly, it turns out pretty good!





And not to mention the usual Cantonese-styled food...

It comprises of5 different types of braised meat, (Can't remember what they were though but there's sausage, roasted pork among them) and a salted egg (common in Cantonese food), all served with rice.

真功夫 in Guang Zhou

真功夫 - One of the local fast food restaurants which sells healthy (that's what they publicized as..) Chinese food. And when i said Chinese food, i meant rice, soup, veggies and meat. Interesting isn't it?

On a weird note, it's spokesperson is the legendary Bruce Lee .. which explains the logo.



Rice with braised pork.



Cantonese styled soup



My set lunch. It's really alot. Trust me. Though i won't say it's really healthy since you can literally see the layer of oil on the soup, veggies and steamed meat with mushrooms.

Road Trip from Xiamen to Guangzhou

Travelling from Xiamen to Guangzhou (and back after that) was an adventure itself. Thankfully for my experienced travel mate, we didn't face any major hiccups along the way. Overnight coach tickets were bought at Xiamen University. There are numerous daily night coaches from Xiamen to Guangzhou so it's quite a 100% guarantee that you'll get a ticket even though sale of these tickets start only 3 days before the departure.

The condition of the coach is unfortunately, up to one's luck. You can't determine the condition simply by the price of the coach ticket, nor can you select your own seat number. A cheaper ticket may bring you a newer and more comfortable coach in any case. And changing your seat depends if the coach assistant is friendly enough. One tip though, if possible, always negotiate an upper seat. But fret not! It's NOT anything that's very bad! My coach to Guangzhou was apparently a lower grade one but i didn't experience any discomfort.

My ticket (Xiamen-Guangzhou) which costs RMB188 (approximately SG$37.60)



View of the upper beds on my coach back from Guangzhou to Xiamen. All seats come with a blanket and bottle of water. There is also an in-built toilet in the coach itself. There's a mini compartment at the end of each seat for you to put your bag or shoes (you are supposed to remove your shoe the moment you step onto the bus. Complimentary plastic bags are provided to keep your footwear)



Me... on my first experience of such overnight coach



View of upper and lower coach 'seats' (or beds rather)