Mead Update

Just thought you may like to see a short video of the initial fermentation process in the Mead I recently made. Have a nose: HERE

Mead Update

Introductions....

Meet Chicken number 2. (They don't have names as yet). She's a Columbian Blacktail. A cross between a Rhode Island Red and White Sussex - both reliable, good mannered heavy layers.

These birds have a great temperament, friendly and are good layers. An average of 300 eggs a year can be provided by this lass, I've got six of them so I reckon I'll be egg bound.
Their plumage is a rich chestnut brown and the very end of their tails is black, hence the name. Sometimes the black marking is not so prominent as one of the hens is mostly pure gingery Rhode Island with just one tiny under-feather showing any black colouration.

As soon as I can catch these ladies I'll tag their legs with coloured rings and name them accordingly, Mrs Yellow, Mrs Pink, Mrs Blue etc...

Due to the winter period they have taken a laying break and are more content with hiding under the coop to avoid the snowflakes.

Introductions....

Welcome to Winter

This is the first time the pullets and other hens have seen a dusting of snow. Unusually quiet at feeding time early this morning but the occasional grumbling tone could be heard.

VEG GARDEN TIP - Now's a good time to mulch some of the remaining perennial vegetables (I only say this because as soon as the snow came down I thought, oh bugger, that's what i should have done!) The artichokes, rhubarb have been tended too....sorry asparagus, I meant well!

A great site for homebrew can be found here: http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=19. Friendly bunch and eager to try something different!

Welcome to Winter

What to do when it snows? Ah, drink cider of course!

It's started to snow upon our hill, lovely large flakes and the pets have freaked out a little.

Thought I'd take this opportunity to sample some of the home-brews that have been bubbling away over the past few weeks and have now settled somewhat. So far I've been disgusted, enticed, confused and pleasantly surprised by the flavours that danced around inside my mouth.

Cider one (first attempt made from one variety of cider apple) - TASTE - Complex! First sweet, then sour, then a sudden rush of unpleasant sock aroma, then a warming 'thinness' like white wine.

Cider two (a blend of four Gloucestershire apples, ciders, cookers 10% and desserts) - TASTE - Rich and strong, slightly acidic, not unpleasant but in need of a long maturation period - should mellow.

Parsnip wine - Still fizzing, coming to the fermentation end though. TASTE - Good, very interesting taste, a certain 'zing', definite lemon influence and that mellow parsnip edge. This one should develop finely over the next 6 months.

Perry - Bottled and slowly maturing in the coolness of the shed. TASTE - Since bottling some weeks back the flavour has enriched tremendously. Initially it was unpalatable and I thought it was the disaster of the whole homebrew batch. This sample however was great, a good sweetness, light and very refreshing - just requires carbonation and it will be perfect. Come March the perry should provide a good drink.

What to do when it snows? Ah, drink cider of course!

Have honey.......make Mead.

This year the bees provided two large harvests of the sweetest, most fragrant honey. Everyday I eat honey and felt it was a good time to try to drink some too, in the form of Mead. Hopefully a strong Viking version! The best mead is ready in approximately one year after bottling.

The following recipe is for a medium sweet mead (if you like it dry use less honey. Sweet - add more!)

3.5lb Honey

15g Yeast Nutrient

1 tsp Yeast

4 lemons - juiced. (alternatively use 15g Citric Acid)

(4.5 litres- 1 gallon water total)

• Use large pan bring 2 litres water to boil
• Add the honey, stirring so that it does not stick and burn
• Add more water (2.5 litres)
• Bring to a rolling boil, at this point a thick scum may form on the surface which should be skimmed off with a spoon
• Reduce the heat
• Add the lemon juice (or citric acid)
• Add the yeast nutrient
• Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature
• Pour into a clean, sterilised demijohn
• Allow to settle (overnight is best), plug the top of the demijohn with cotton wool to keep foreign bodies out
• Use a clean jar (or similar) and quarter fill with warm water
• Monitor the temperature of the mead solution, you are aiming for the jar of water to be within 5 degrees of the mead.
• When this temperature is reached add the yeast to the jar and swirl the solution gently
• Wait 15 to 20 minutes for the yeast to dissolve
• Add to the mead

• Fit a clean bung and airlock and place demijohn on newspaper. Keep in a moderately warm place (e.g kitchen is ideal).
• Within a few days the fermentation process will have started (bubbles and froth appearing)
• When fermentation has ceased (no vigorous bubbles rising) Rack the liquid into a clean demijohn and top up to within 3 fingers of the neck with clean water if necessary. (Make sure to leave the sludge 'lees' behind).
• Store the demijohn in a cool place and leave to mature - at least a year - if you can resist! The wine mead should be clearer and inviting to drink.

A slight twist on the recipe would be to add some oranges as well as the lemons.

Have honey.......make Mead.

Not an alcoholic, honestly

Who doesn't like a good drink? Not me, in fact I prefer something that has been created from scratch, from my very own smallholding. In this case it's gooseberries, sloes and cherries. The cherries were quite tart, morellos, and not even the birds had a desire to taste. With a little addition of booze they became very agreeable.

Here's a simple tip for all fruits when combined with alcohol.

I tend to use the thirds process:

• 1 third fruit
• 1 third sugar
• 1 third alcohol

although this is simple it is also crucial...too much sugar will result in a syrupy drink. Too much alcohol will give you a tinged drink, especially in the case of juniper gin.

Not an alcoholic, honestly

Parsnip Wine - Not so unusual!

This is a very simple wine to make and I've heard is a delight to drink. I'm yet to sample for myself but found the process quick, follow these steps and you shouldn't go wrong.

Ingredients:

1.5 lb Parsnips (approx 2kg)

3lb Sugar

1 lemon

Yeast (brewers/champagne variety)

• Wash parsnips, top and tail them. (No need to peel).
• Slice thinly into rings and chunks.
• Grab a large pan, (enough to hold a gallon of liquid.)
• Add the parsnips and cover with 1 gallon water (approx 4.5 litres)

• Bring to the boil and simmer until the parsnips are soft (but not mushy)

In the meantime you could sterilise the demijohn (or similar vessel)

Either use one heaped teaspoon sterilising powder with water and mix, rinse well.

Or, alternatively fill with boiling water and clean thoroughly. I can recommend this nifty 'angled' brush for cleaning out the vessels. A similar one can be bought from http://www.art-of-brewing.co.uk/acatalog/items/item801.html

The parsnips should be soft enough for the next stage.

• Strain the vegetables and keep the liquor. You could dispose of the parsnips but I highly suggest they are whizzed up into a soup, chuck in a bit of salt and pepper, vegetable stock and simmer (add a half cup of cream towards the end). Delicious.

• Return the liquor to the pan on a low heat

• Add the sugar
• Add lemon zest and juice
• Stir until the sugar has dissolved.

• Remove from heat and leave to cool, lifting off any scum which may have formed on the surface.
• When the temperature is near to room temperature (approx 21 degrees) add a teaspoon of yeast and stir gently.

• Pour the liquid into clean demijohn, using a funnel if handy.
• Don't worry that the vessel is not completely full.

• Keep the vessel in a fairly constant, warm place (kitchen is ideal) placed on newspaper in case of spillages.

Within a day or two the liquid will begin to froth and bubble on the surface. This is a sign that the fermentation process has began

• Top up the liquid with clean water to about an inch from the neck of the vessel

Clean the neck of demijohn with a warm cloth and fit an airlock consisting of rubber bung and plastic lock, half filled with clean water. If necessary add cotton wool to top of airlock.

The initial activity will begin to ease after a few days and a steady stream of bubbles will flow from the base of the vessel.

• When the bubbles have completely stopped (2 weeks +) the liquid can be 'racked'. This involves syphoning the liquid into clean, sterilised bottles which are sealed tightly (corks or flip bungs)

Leave to mature and enjoy (within about 6 months).

The parnsip enjoys a conversation with the cider prior

to fermentation beginning.

Parsnip Wine - Not so unusual!

China - Friday 15th May - Yangtze in reverse

It's raining a fair bit today, the temperature is perfect though...cool with a hint of humidity. We're setting off at around 9am and last night we were docked for the first day. Breakfast was at 7:00am and on arrival we were greeted with a noisy mass of Chinese passengers climbing over a buffet spread. These crafty buggers had already been in much earlier than us, some on second servings...mountains of food were transferred to their plates and they gobbled it up at the speed of light. These guys were mostly elderly too, amazing. I queued and got to the demolished buffet spread...I filled my tiny plate, noodles, garlic, dumplings and sweet muffins....not a drop of marmite in sight, it didn't matter, there was lots of strong coffee, good stuff.

During breakfast something kicked off on the table next to me. Victor (our guide) was standing over an older Chinese man hollering and waving his arms around, the old man with food bulging in his cheeks was shouting back, spraying pieces of dumpling accross the table, he was gesturing wildly with his chopsticks. Soon enough the restaurant staff had to step in to calm the situation.

Later I found that the problem arose due to the old fella was overheard saying something insulting about the Australians to his fellow passengers. Apparantly it was an insult, so rude, so bad and one of the most offending things that could be said. The man hadn't realised that Victor, who was sat on a seperate table was within ear shot and part of our group. It was remarkable that Victor, a tiny waif of a man had stood up to this chap, it seems he wouldn't take any abuse from anyone!

The initial part of the cruise is taking me from Yichang to the main Three Gorges Dam, about 4 hours travel. The cruiser is moving a snails pace which is perfect for gazing at the stunning scenery, steep gorges and slopes. The water is a gorgeous rich emerald green colour and occasionally small coves are revealed where tiny boats are moored bobbing in our wake. Clinging to flatter areas of rock are small dwellings built from simple brick and wood methods and each has a small vegetable plot, crop area holding maize or rape and tiny terraces holding rice paddy fields. Occasionally I could see a bird of prey soaring from a perch high on the cliff face, craning my neck to look to the very summit. They appear to be red kites but a deeper, richer colouration on their plumage. I'm sat in my cabin on a rock-hard bed looking out at the glorious landscape, the steep gorge fills the entire window space, from top to bottom. There are clusters of goats huddled on tiny ledges about half way up the slope. They're attempting to navigate a way down, possible to the waters edge to drink, where the vegetation is more lush.

We are heading to Chonqing as our first destination, there we will be taking a smaller vessel down a smaller part of the gorge. This section of the river leads to the first major lock at the dam site and the water here has been raised to around 75 metres. The original water height was around 2 - 5 metres and considered trecherous to navigate due to whirlpools and submerged rocks. The rising of the water during construction of the dam meant many of the underlying rocks had to be blasted by the army to improve the flow of the water and aid vessels navigating a route.

Sat here I'm amazed at the scenery, I think my mouth has been open for a while. There's huddles of houses with people sat on small porches, dogs milling around and beautiful sounding birds calling from shrub and tree lined rocks. Occasionally small clusters of tombs appear on the rocks. each grave consists of a large stone slab, turned upright bearing a Chinese inscription with a series of small stones stacked either side. The graves themselves are small round mounds of earth about 2 metres in diameter. Each one had a pole fixed on top or beside with colourful pieces of paper and shiny foil attached. Each grave represents one land owner, a parent who had tended this particular piece of land. The dwellings I imagine are little changed but were originally much higher from the waters edge. I can't fathom how many people had been displaced as the waters rose, belongings and houses lost...even the tombs of their relatives have been consumed by the ever rising tide.

It's 7pm, I've just finished a lovely tofu and squid dinner. I tried to stuff my face as much as possible as Chinese food is delicious but I guarantee being hungry again in a couple of hours.

Our vessel and 5 similar sized boats are currently sat in lock number 2 of the gorge dam, the big one.

It works on a similar principle to canal locks in the UK but on a massive scale. The water will rise to around 30 metres in 5 minutes. This allows us to pass through to the next lock of the dam and then the process will start again. Whilst we were dining I could see the walls of the lock about 1/2 a metre away from each window on either side of the boat. The sound of the karaoke machine was wafting down from the floor above, channelled and hemmed in by the vast concrete walls. The music was blending with the screeching and scraping sounds as we raised up the inside of the lock. Everyone politely ignored the racket as they ate, it was like some crazy carry on film scene.

We've just passed through lock number 3, a huge steel structure that could hold king kong. The depth in this lock is 135 metres, colossal! At 8pm we finally passed through the last lock which in the now dark landscape was a relief as we drifted toward a row of sparking lights emitting from other boats. On the top deck I looked back to the large dam, it was spread out to the right, must have been around 2km long and had a series of orange lights running along the top edge which gave it the look of a Las Vegas casino.

Tiny Cows!!

Pic by C.Farrell

Tiny Cows!!

China - Thursday 14th May - 2010 - Journey to the Yangtze

last night we travelled the train again, luckily it was closer to bedtime so after ablutions were done we all retired to bed, personal stereo on.

I got to have a good chat with Yen, an Aussie girl who was travelling with her partner Rob. She works in some kind of number crunching position as a manager in Fosters, the lager company. It seems all the Australian people I met whilst touring were successful in stable, well paid jobs - they seemed at ease and content with their choices made in life.

The lights flicked off, 10pm prompt so there wasn't much else to do except sleep. Wayne, my nemesis, was on the bunk below me and had pre-warned everyone of his incredible snoring ability. It's pretty good, disturbing but not so bad that it kept me awake for too long. I surprised myself by falling asleep fairly quickly and being able to stay rested longer that the previous train journeys.

This was a long journey at 14 hours and we were already delayed an hour. Rolling into the bus station would be at around 11am where I'll be travelling into Wuhan. About 19 hours on my rump.

During the bus journey we took a pit stop at a small roadside shop in the deep heart of the rural province. The toilet was behind the shop, down a small dirt track....following the smell I found the way and was presented a hideous sight. The toilet was an open room with a roman trench style system on one side. There was no flowing water in the trench, just cracked tiles lining the hole. This was a communal experience, where your business was everybody's business. I stood over the abyss fumbling with my buttons and felt an immediate retraction in my nethers as I caught a glimpse of a Chinese chap to the right of me, he was squat down facing me trousers around his ankles and cigarette hanging from his mouth and he was just staring, staring at me whilst going about his business. I am learning the power of self control during this trip, I'm heading back to the bus awaiting the next stop - so what if it's another four hours, I have a plastic bottle.

Entering Wuhan was amazing. It was a mixture of high rise accommodation towers and some of the poorest and decaying down-town settlements. The atmosphere was busy and everyone looked like a film extra, entering left or right on screen or poised over a cooking pot, washing, repairing things after the director called 'Action'!

I was particularly taken by the tree-lined streets, mostly London Plane (Chinese Plane?) which acted as excellent shade providers in addition to breaking up the array of concrete structures apparently randomly growing from the city streets.

We had to board our yangtze boat at a location different to that previously arranged. It appeared to cause concern for the guides Victor and Daniel. The driver negotiated his bus through pot-holed streets down winding tracks to the new destination. The view was amazing, incredibly steep mountainous slopes gave a good precursor to what will lay ahead of me on the river cruise. Just before the port (which looked like it was more suited to rubble cargo ships than tourist boats) we came to a closed gate. The line of five or so cruisers were line up but we couldn't access at this time.

The guardsman said for us to take our hand luggage with us to pass through the security gate. The machine beeped like crazy as we passed through, each bag setting off the alarm though they simply waved us through. We weren't however allowed to take our main luggage from the bus cargo hold. There were dozens of men milling around and the atmosphere was tense, myself and the other passengers were either looking confused or concerned. The men were getting agitate, flapping their arms around and ordering us to walk away and make our way to the cruise boat. None of them had any form of official looking uniform, pass ..not even a neat authoritative haircut.

We sheepishly walked to the port side and watched the men take our baggage from the bus and pass them through the security detector. It seems they were asking for money to allow the bus to travel 50 yards through the locked gates which could have meant we carry the luggage ourselves. We couldn't carry the bags through and if we insisted the men said we would have to take the bags to the previous village up the steep hill and bring them back, though I'm sure, even then they would not let us pass through without some greased palms. There was no option but to pay the bribe, we weren't allowed to watch, they shouted at us to go onto the boat whilst hassling the tour leaders and driver.

Once aboard I met a guy called Cam who I'd be sharing a room with for the next few days. He was decent chap and after chatting I learned that he was halfway through a one year tour of the world.He's already been through America, Thailand, Vietnam and now in China...next stop Australia. Later that evening we met in the awful karaoke bar on the mid deck. The boat by the way was a rusty, tatty twisted old stained carpet tug, but it had a certain charm and apparantly this was an upgrade to a four star from two....I wonder how bad the two star could have been?

A few beers inside me we teamed up with the Australians to play a group game using cash and dice. Apparently it's called something like, 'Left, Right, Pot'

Everyone has three bank notes, either Yuan (as we played) or dollars. It UK it would have to be quids which may not work so well.

There's three dice and depending on how many notes you hold you roll the corresponding number of dice. You follow the dots (numbers) on the dice to determine the following actions:

1 - Hand a note to your left

2 - Nothing, safe

3 - Money goes into central pot

4 - Nothing, safe

5 - Nothing, safe

6 - Hand a note to your right

The idea is to be the last one holding money which means you get the pot. It's an easy game, simple but very fast and great fun. I unfortunately became unlucky and always seemed to roll a three which meant my money went to the pot, without fail.

After the game Victor showed his bravery by singing karaoke, a Chinese ballad. We all roared and cheered when he finished and grabbed a few more beers.

China Playlist.....A sky gazing and karst climbing aid.

The Album Leaf - Red Eye

Jethro Toll - Ring out solstice bells

Zero 7 - Mr Mcgee

Clor - Dangerzone

Deadmau5 - Strobe

Little Dragon - Twice

Cinematic Orchestra - To build a home

Tim Exile - Family galaxy

The Album Leaf - Stand still

Sufjan Stevens - Concerning the ufo

Sufjan Stevens - John wayne gacy, jr

Pivot - In the blood

Pivot - O'Soundtrack my heart

Pivot - Fool in rain

NIN - Zero sum (stephen morris mix)

Moderat - A new error

Miike Snow - Silvia

Igo - Fake van gogh

Hot Chip - One life stand

Errors - Bridge or cloud

Dead Weather - Treat me like your mother

Errors - Germany

Adam Freeland - Wish i was here

Unkle - Reign

Venetian Snares - Hajnal

Deftones - Change (claw mix)

Ratatat - Cherry

Timeout Drawer - The gift they'd pick if the choice was theirs

Beck - Paper tiger

Cardiacs - As cold as can be in an english sea (rehersal)

Adam Freeland - Best fish tacos

Adam Freeland - Only a fool

Adam Freeland - Morning son

Aim - Downstate

Aim - Demonique

Aim - The girl who fell through the ice

The Band - The night they drove old dixie down

Chromeo - Night by night

Clark - Growls garden

Faith no more - Helpless

Igo - Rockself Dot com

Icubus - Wish you were here

Jim O'Rourke - Ghost ship in a storm

Justice - Genesis

Traffic - Dear mr fantasy

Family - My friend the sun

Timo Maas - Help me

Faraquet - Conceptual seperation of self

Lostprophets - Last summer

Biffy Clyro - Who's got a match

The Ethiopeans - Train to skaville

Metallica - The day that never comes

Modeselektor - Godspeed

Mogwai - Friend of the night

Mumford and sons - I gave you all

NIN - Dicipline

Papa M - Over jordan

Pearl Jam - Amongst the waves

Perfect circle - Imagine

Deftones - Minerva

Venetian Snares - Szamar Madar

QOTSA - Go with the flow

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Orion

Sonic Youth - Dripping dream

Sonic Youth - Stones

Soundgarden - 4th of july

Squarepusher - Tomorrow world

Stone Temple Pilots - Vaseline

Zero 7 - I have seen

4 Hero - Planetaria

China - Wednesday 13th May - Yangshuo Lingers

China - Wednesday 13th May - Yangshuo Lingers

I’ve got a fair bit of black ink on my fingers this morning as I’ve just returned from a lesson in calligraphy which was fantastic. Our tutor collected us from the hostel and led us through the streets to an underground workshop where a row of newspaper covered trestle tables were arranged. We all sat as the tutor poured black ink into a number of small dishes on the table in front of us. On the tables were large A3 sized pieces of very thin tissue paper (almost like crepe) which had feint red grids on.

One by one the guide went to each of us and wrote the number 1 to 10 and 0 in English. We copied these familiar numbers using long elegant strokes from bulbous brushes which ended in a fine point. It took a little while to get used to handling the brush, it was tricky to gauge the amount of pressure I could apply as the paper would soak up a huge amount before dispersing it through he thin layers, creating a blob mess. Lines that started neat and sharp took on a fuzzy smudged appearance. Perseverance led to me mastering this hurdle fairly quickly and I was absorbed in this fine art, I think I actually had my tongue sticking out the side of my mouth for most of the time.

We learnt to write in Chinese characters meaning ‘sun, ‘moon’ and ‘stream’ in addition to writing our names which appears to be based on tonal syllables rather than any obvious literal meaning. I’m unclear what my name meant but the tutor stuck up his thumb saying, ‘its goooooood!’

The rest of the morning I spent visiting the large park in the centre of Yangshuo, sitting by the river watching touts drum up business from other tourists. Later I had a couple of terrible games of pool with Victor, it was so hot and humid the cue wouldn’t slide properly through my hand. Prior to this I had told Victor that I was pretty good at pool but he surprised me by being a demon at the game, turns out he has a great skill in many things including sleight of hand card tricks, impressive!

We grabbed our kit from the hostel and filed into a privately booked coach to leave this wonderful place. Our next leg of the journey was another overnight train, 14 hours of bunking it. The coach ride was extremely cheap, I recall it worked out o £15 to take all 16 of us for a 2 hour ride.

I’m currently sat in Guilin train station; our train is delayed for 1.5 hours. The huge waiting room is crammed full of travellers, some sat like us on rows of metal seats, sleeping or generally milling around. The atmosphere is noisy but heightened, everybody seems to be in good spirits and it reminds me of the waiting room at Heathrow at the start of this trip, such a contrast – everyone is happy to be travelling somewhere.

Many people are stocking up on noodle pots prior to boarding the train, seems to be the staple diet in China when you’re on the move.

The noodle cart awaits

Earlier we visited the market to buy provisions as we wouldn’t be able to source breakfast or dinner whilst on the train – apart from small trolley which occasionally passed us in the corridors. I had bought a whole heap of junk food – the shop had a huge amount of brightly coloured, ghastly looking foodstuffs, none of which appeared to hold too much nutritional value. I too bought noodles in a pot, shrimp flavour in addition to some coffee flavoured milk tea and honey injected dates (they removed the stones and replaced with honey – genius idea!)

I almost forgot to mention the Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant in Yangshuo – simply the best meal I’ve had on the whole China trip, delicious veggie dishes beautifully presented and using ingredients in an imaginative way in amazing traditional restaurant settings – dirt cheap too. I recall some veggie meatball style delights, taro and sweet potato, gorgeous marinated tofu and a very delicious bottle of Heineken lager.

China - Tuesday May 12th - Yangshuo, Heaven on Earth

China - Tuesday May 12th - Yangshuo, Heaven on Earth

I awoke with a bit of a fuzzy head but otherwise well rested and thankful to b able to catch up on some sleep after the long train journey. After breakfast (full English – bit of toast, 10 beans and 1 egg) we all met in the hostel lobby to venture into town to collect bikes for a days worth of cycling.

The air was still, heavy and slightly spitting with rain but the mist it created allowed for some fantastic scenery, shrouding the peaks of the limestone hills.

We set off, first through the town which was absolutely manic! I had happily witnessed the apparent random driving from the relative safety of inside a bus prior to this but now we were al vulnerable, exposed to the onslaught of Chinese traffic. Each side of the road acted as a rough guide for the direction the traffic should attempt to follow. Everyone owns some form of horn in their vehicle and use it like it’s attached to the accelerator. They honk if they’re coming up behind you, honk when they pass, and honk when they come towards you, honk when they pass, and honk if they are nowhere near you. It’s not just the motorised traffic either, Victor, our guide, was constantly ringing his bell frantically whilst navigating through the seemingly bewildered pedestrians who would step off at random in front of you. It was great fun ducking in and out of traffic whilst keeping your head spinning 360 degrees looking for bikes, mopeds, trucks, coaches and animals.

We eventually veered off into a side street, a great line of westerners which caused great amusement amongst the residents, some of which took photographs of us. Cycling along we headed to the rice plantations and instantly the traffic calmed with only a handful of fellow cyclists to navigate through.

We stopped for one of many photo opportunities looking through the immense valley landscape. Every inch of flat land has been used for producing a wide range of food stuffs – citrus and tangerine trees in neat rows, flooded rice paddy fields, numerous leaf greens, banana stands, strawberries, melons and sweetcorn. After the initial town traffic onslaught this area was preferable, calm beautiful and very humid.

We all traversed concrete roads and dirt tracks and laughed and joked around for most of the ride stopping occasionally for more photos, especially some great group shots.

Our destination was a place called Moon Hill a popular ‘stop off’ point en route where one of the limestone peaks is shaped into an arch and stands high above the landscape.

It’s an amazing sight and for 15 Yuan we could climb around 800 steps through a bamboo forest to stand beneath the arch. Each of us unfortunately acquired a tiny local woman clutching a fan and cool box with beer, water and postcards in. They had leapt out of nowhere when we were arriving on our bikes, we had heard this distant screaming and shouting as Victor proclaimed, ‘They’re coming!’ Around 20 ladies streamed across the busy road into our convoy of bikes causing chaos amongst the ranks – after previously pedalling for an age and feeling a bit tired we were taken surprise by this event!

So, leaving our bikes at the café we took to trek up the hillside mw, with my very own woman. She was very nice, spoke great English and taught me to say 1,2,3,4 and 5 in Chinese and attempted to fan me on the journey – I felt awkward as we were advised to best ignore these ladies but I found her company enjoyable even though she was fanning the forest beyond me more than my actual face. She had the guilt trip on me perfectly and showed me a photo of her two sons, one 13 and the other 15. She pointed to the general direction where she lived, on a small farm – she had no other job other than gaining what she could from hot, sweating, out of breath tourists climbing to Moon Hill. I knew at some point I would have to give her some money. She stuck with me the whole journey, right to the peak.

At the summit the tree line disappeared allowing for some great views of the surrounding landscape, much the same as before but from a higher elevation, as if I was inside a hot air balloon.

There were stalactite rock formations hanging from the archway of Moon Hill itself and walking beneath this I could view an even more expansive vista before me. I felt quite worn out and dizzy from the climb and gulped water in an attempt to level my head a little.

We descended and I gave my unofficial guide some money and asked that she walk the reaming path alone, she seemed a bit miffed by this but I felt she could have gained more money from some of the other tourists, especially the Germans. On the way down I noticed that some of the bamboo aligning the paved track had Chinese characters etched into it. If it’s some form of graffiti then I think it looks great, very attractive.

At the foot of the hill, back in the café area I treated myself to a delicious mango prawn dinner and chewed the fat with the rest of the group around our table whilst waiting for my forehead to dry a little. We all retrieved our bikes and cycled back via a different to Yangshuo, we arrived back at the hostel for the welcome embrace of a shower and clean clothes. Some of the group headed out for a Chinese cooking lesson but I decided to stay behind and write a few postcards. Tomorrow I will be participating in a calligraphy lesson where I hop to lean how to write my name in Chinese characters.

I’m laying in bed as I write this, it’s about 9:40pm local time and I’m watching some crazy television with the sound down, my ipod is treating me to the new Errors album.

Chinese television is insane, I have agreed it’s mostly advertisements for similar products to back home but brighter, more colourful, faster and generally manic. I just saw Jackie Chan endorsing some product which I couldn’t be sure about (Edit: It was hair shine cream). If you see Bruce Lees image on a shop front in China then they’re probably selling fried chicken, KFC style…he’s be doing kung fu flips in his grave if he knew.

I’ve just returned from having a few beers with Ben, Megan, Rob, Wayne and his wife Michelle. Earlier they had a cooking lesson which, judging by their photos went extremely well, they’ll all be pro’s back home. To choose their cooking ingredients they visited the local farmers market. They told me they saw dogs in cages for sale and other ‘processed’ dog carcasses hanging up. Some dogs were crammed inside small cages – up to 7 at a time; they said you could hear them before you saw them.

On another note, I’m really enjoying drinking so much water; I may adopt this habit when I return. Earlier I was able to use Wayne’s’ nifty laptop to send a quick email home to the parents and thought I’d sneak a quick peek at the BBC News page. There was a photo of Cameron and Clegg standing at the doorway to Number 10 waving – that sums it up. However, Clegg didn’t look too happy, certainly not as happy as Cameron. I think I may be returning to a different Britain, I hope the volcano re-erupts and keeps me out here for a while longer, especially in Yangshuo.

China - Monday 11th May

China - Monday 11th May

It’s 1:15pm, back home in the UK it’s 6:15am, people are just waking up.

We had a bit of a trek last night to the train station in Guiling. It’s the hard sleeper option for us with each numbered train carriage divided into 20 or so door-less rooms each with 6 suspended beds – 3 on each side, one above the other. I had the top bunk and my nose was almost touching the ceiling of the carriage.

This part of the journey will be 13 hours long, overnight and with a delightful squat toilet for the whole carriage to use. We had the misfortune of being in the first sleeping compartment and therefore the closest to the toilet and free movement of people during the journey, also the toilet area which was housed in the interconnecting section of the carriages also double up as the only smoking area on the train – wafts of disgusting smoke would flow through the carriage. Later on this proved to be uncomfortable when attempting to sleep with intermittent air conditioning and the banging of doors. But in a way, it made for an interesting adventure, but one I wouldn’t wish to repeat too often – thankfully there’s only another 3 of these equally long journeys to follow!

We spent the first few hours of the journey sitting on the lower bunks chatting away. The first train journey was novel and exciting. I mostly listened to the Australians talk about ‘things back home’ and read my Lonely Planet guide book. At around 8:45 I climbed to my tiny bunk to lie down and listen to my Ipod.

Lights went out at 10pm just as I needed to make the walk of shame to the toilet, so I had to navigate my way through the carriage to the delightful squat loo – three times in the night I had to make this journey. I swear my body plays these jokes on me just when I’m comfortable! On my final return I fell asleep easily considering the air conditioning unit was near my head and the ‘click clack’ of the train was irregular enough to usually cause me concern.

We arrived, through bleary eyes at our destination at 6:30am and transferred to a small coach to drive for 90 minutes. The landscape along the route was amazing, stunning in fact. Rice paddy fields hugged the lower landscape on small terraces crossed by tracks, roads and irrigation canals. The majestic landscape consisted of high karst limestone peaks covered in small trees and shrubs occasionally revealing the streaked limestone beneath.

We arrived at our destination, Yanggshuo and walked the bustling streets to our hostel. Each alleyway offered an amazing view of street vendors selling noodles and dumplings. Tree lined streets, hostels, restaurants, small bridges over dirty looking streams and inlets appeared along every street vista. The hostel called the Explorer was great, an amazing double room for myself. The hostel was coupled with a place called MC Blues, a café and bar set up which also was ideally located in the best backpacker’s area of the town. The bar front opened out into the street where you could sit and absorb life as it waltzed by in many colours and languages. Naturally being a western led area there are many touts and beggars but a simple ‘no’ means such and they leave be, however one chap passed me by numerous times and would only say, ‘watch, watch’ to me whilst pointing at the five Rolexes strapped around his wrist.

It’s the evening, just sat on my bed for the first time…it’s harder than granite. Anyhow, today, after a bit of free time where I once again bumbled around the streets we headed off in two small buses for a relaxing bamboo raft ride down the river. After traversing pot-hole lanes and uneven bridges we arrived at a small concrete jetty and boarded fake plastic bamboo rafts with outboard motors, ready for our relaxing glide down the Li River.

Despite the wobbly boat and noisy motors the scenery was simply stunning. Those tall peaks took on a majestic array of monumental proportions, each unique, each random and other world like – I find it difficult to describe their beauty but was able to take many photo which in reference with this journal may do it more justice.

After the trip and ride home I grabbed a good, stodgy pizza (bit bored of some of the dumplings already). In the evening at 7:10pm we headed through the market to the edge of the river to board a noisy passenger sight seeing boat to watch a local chap use cormorant birds to catch fish. It was dark which was less than ideal for my camera but fun to watch the birds diving from a raft, seeking out fish. The fisherman had a light fixed to the front of his vessel similar in style to 1940’s arched lamps. The purpose was for us to see and also guide the birds to the front of his boat with their catch. Most of the time it attracted a heap of strange looking insects and moths which landed on every available surface.

The birds, despite their tied necks did well and appeared to only aim for smaller fish which easily slid past the throat restriction – clever birds. The view of this attraction was more thrilling and attractive to see on BBC nature programmes, in real life, in these particular conditions it could not compare – even the HSBC banking adverts painted a better picture. For some of the journey the fisherman was busy yakking on his mobile phone.

One great part of this trip was to see the streets of Yangshuo lit up in neon lights and also to see some of the karst limestone peaks which were spot lit soaring almost vertically around the town like great looming gods looking down. After the boat trip I joined the other travellers for a few beers which were delightful in this thick, humid air. Some of the Australians decided to order a dog dish from the menu. The dish arrived, quite a lot of it too, rich brown in colour not dissimilar to beef in appearance. They tried a few bites before deciding it was ‘quite gamey’ and left the main bulk of it. It’s nice to know that dog didn’t die for nothing. Tomorrow I think they’re ordering roasted bamboo rat.