travel
Looking for monkeys in Da Nang, Vietnam
I got to Vietnam about 5 days ago and arrived in Hanoi. The entire trip so far has been awesome. Of course I don’t have my pc with me so I haven’t been able to edit my weekly videos but I have more videos from China scheduled to upload which I will post when they do – don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel for my latest travel videos. I will have plenty of videos from Vietnam coming once I get home and edit the hours of footage I have! This is just a sample of what’s to come!
Today was my first entire day in Da Nang after arriving at the airport last night and I am blown away. Vietnam is beautiful, clean, and incredibly cheap. I rented a motorbike for 140,000 dong (around $7, their currency really needs to be rounded down) and drove around the peninsula just outside of the city. I was advised by a couple of travelers to go here to see a few local monuments, some amazing views and possibly even some monkeys.
I absolutely love this country. Freedom seems to be a big thing here, and I was amazed how quick I was rented a motorbike with no license. I’m even told by some locals that drunk driving isn’t even illegal in the country. Regardless I’d never do something silly like that. While driving past the Lady Buddha I encountered one of the most amazing viewpoints I’d ever seen.
My German traveler friend recommended I follow the road all the way to when the mountain starts to take back the road – meaning where the bushes start to overgrow the path – to look for monkeys. I, in fact did see a number of monkeys but didn’t get my camera out in time unfortunately. I caught a few seconds of one on video, but it’s awfully blocked by bushes. Perhaps I’ll have another opportunity before I leave Vietnam in about 9 more days.
I don’t have a whole lot more to share except for a few pictures but I felt it would be good to update the blog. Rest assured, plenty of great travel logs of Vietnam are on the way. I still have a lot of videos from Guilin I need to get out as well, the work never stops!
Guilin Day 2: Annoying local fishermen, and riding the Yao Mountain Cable Car Ride
On day 2 of my trip to Guilin I woke up very early in the morning around 5:30 AM. Maggie was taking the sleeper train into town from Shenzhen so I had to go to Guilinbei Railway Station to meet her and bring her back to the hostel. I caught a couple nice looking views from the cab on my way there.
After meeting Maggie, I brought her back to the Li River around 6:30 to catch the sunrise. It was breathtaking. We were also surprised to see a ton of fishermen there trying to catch some fish from the river. In Chinese I asked them if they had caught a lot of fish. They looked at me very annoyed as if I was making too much noise and said no.
We headed back to the hotel, had a shower and some breakfast, and then we were off to explore Guilin! We planned to go to Yao Mountain on this day, and that’s what we did. However first I had to buy a pair of pants because the mosquitos in Guilin are terrible – I got 15 mosquito bites on my first day in shorts. The remainder of the trip was spent in jeans. (Which I buy in the video) After that, we took a bus ride to Yao Mountain and found that you actually had to walk quite far from the bus to reach the mountain. Regardless, we found it and the cable car ride was AMAZING.
So the cable car costs 65 RMB ($9.79 USD) to go up one way, and 110 RMB for both up and down ($16.57 USD) per person. It was well worth it though. Hiking to the top of that mountain, despite how much I love hiking, in that heat would be miserable. Plus, the views you get from the cable car and the nice breeze is unforgettable!
Going up the cable car was even a bit scary for me, but poor Maggie had an absolute meltdown. In fact I plan to do another video on just how funny I thought her freaking out was. She was truly terrified on that cable car ride.
As the ride came to an end, we even caught a picture of a beautiful butterfly that landed on our cable car. Make sure to check out my YouTube channel and check out the video of this day at the top. Let me know what you think in the comments! See you next time! I am off to Vietnam tomorrow so expect tons of good video logs and blog postings from there as well! I will be there for two weeks, and I still have videos scheduled to post to my YouTube channel while I’m gone, and I will see what I can do as far as updating the blog goes.
Guilin Day 1: Hostels, the Lijiang River, and the Zhengyang Pedestrian Street
My trip to Guilin last week was a total success! We saw some amazing things out there, and this is what I saw on my first day. After having got off the train (Check my last week’s post Riding a Chinese sleeper train from Shenzhen to Guilin in China) I took a motorcycle to my hostel, the Sky Palace Hostel in Guilin. I checked in and I had to wait a couple hours for my room so I had some western breakfast.
After having some breakfast, I was able to check into my room. I was alone for Day 1, so I stayed in a shared hostel room for only 45 RMB a night (USD $6.78) which was a total steal.
In fact, no one even checked in for the rest of the day and I had the room completely to myself! The cheap hotel fad would soon be over since my girlfriend arrived the next day, but I was still very happy. After taking a shower I headed out to get some food. I ate some Guilin noodles for lunch (Which will be in a future episode of my show, Ian’s Journeys) and then I decided I would like to check out one of the main attractions in Guilin, the Lijiang River. It was very near my hostel, so I took a walk (In the sweltering summer heat – Guilin absolutely does NOT have pleasant weather in the summer – very hot and humid) down to the river bank.
The river was quite breathtaking. The river stretches down hundreds of kilometers and passes through various towns – and you’d better believe we toured the river – which is coming in future blog posts/videos. All day you can watch different boats and fishermen trying to catch some river fare. After checking out the river, I returned to the hostel to enjoy a beer and take a break from the heat. I went out a few hours later and checked out one of the main tourist areas, the Zhengyang and Zhongshan walking streets which are home to tons of shopping and spots for street barbecue!
After checking out the pedestrian walking streets, I stumbled upon a familiar face: The king of burgers…
I couldn’t help but justify a burger meal since I was on vacation as I do love my western food!
Later that night, I went to the bar at my local hostel and enjoyed some beers with the locals and had some pizza.
Then, it was off to bed as I had to wake up quite early the next morning to greet my girlfriend, Maggie who was coming in on the sleeper train. The Guilin adventure was just beginning! Make sure to check out the video of this trip, one of my best produced yet, right at the top of this page and on my YouTube channel! Make sure to like and subscribe if you haven’t yet, and let me know what you think in the comments!
Riding a Chinese sleeper train from Shenzhen to Guilin in China
I spent the last week traveling in Southeast China – mainly in the area of Guilin and the surrounding towns Yangshuo and Xingping. It was a wonderful journey, and I documented every second of it. First I wanted to talk about the difference between these sleeper trains and the high speed trains that China is so famous for. Firstly, I would have taken the fast train if I could have. They are much nicer, newer, and of course faster. However, the tickets for these often sell out fast. I could have gotten fast train tickets going there but I actually wanted to do the long ride in order to document what the sleeper trains are like. This is the inside of a soft sleeper (1st class) cabin:
They are relatively comfortable and the bottom bunk costs a bit more than the top. You have fresh blankets and a private space with a door, like a room. The beds are only stacked two high, and not three. There is a table in the middle, and under the table (Not pictured here) there is a power outlet where you can charge your devices, etc. These beds cost about twice as much as the hard sleeper cabins – which are a bit different. They are all stuffed into one cabin (So over 100 beds to a car, and can be very noisy) and the beds are stacked three high. (If you’re on the top, it totally sucks!) The cost of my soft sleeper ticket was 433 RMB which translates to $65 USD. The hard sleeper, comparably, is about half the price. Anyway, as we made our journey outside of the big cities and into the Chinese country side, I got a lot of cool shots!
At around 4:30 PM I began my journey to Guilin from Louhu Station, in Shenzhen. The evening began to come around and darkness began to fall.
And above are some night shots I got as we were exiting Guangzhou. As we made our way into the Chinese countryside, it was really pitch black since there were no cities or towns so I waited until morning to get the rest of my shots. Here they are as we are entering the Guilin area.
Getting out of the city is something you absolutely must do, even if it’s just once in awhile. The feeling of being out in nature is like nothing else. Guilin is absolutely breathtaking, and I spent a wonderful week there. I will be updating every week with new videos and pics of what we did there. It was a crazy cool adventure! Make sure to check out my YouTube video of the train ride below, and don’t forget to tell me what you think in the comments!
Finding bargains at the Temple Street Market in Hong Kong
Last week we had an excellent day trip to Hong Kong to get our mainland China visas stamped. While we were there we went to two locations: Chungking Mansions (Which is described in my last blog post) and also the Temple Street Market. Today I want to talk about the market. It was my first time visiting it and I was more than blown away!
Getting to the market is very simple. From Jordan Station, take Exit A and turn right onto Jordan Road. Walk down and take another right onto Temple Street. Once you find the market, the entrance is marked by big temple-like gate, and the other side also has an identical gate that signals the end of the market.
It takes about 7 minutes to walk through the market at a brisk pace, but you will be surprised how fast time flies when you start seeing the deals you can get. It may take only 7 minutes to walk through, but by the time you get to the end I bet at least an hour will have gone by! More than likely, you will also have found at least one deal on fashion merchandise that you can smile about!
After I finished walking through the market I hopped on the metro back to Lo Wu station to cross the border into Shenzhen to return home. However, I didn’t come home empty handed! Here’s what I managed to wheel and deal out of the market:
I bought three high quality (100% cotton) t-shirts with brand name logos on them for an excellent price. The vendor lady asked for $204HK (USD $26) for the trio but I got her down to $140HK, (~USD $16) which is about a 30% savings, around $10 usd. Overall, I couldn’t be happier with my purchase, and I hope to return soon! Check out the walk through I did at Temple Street on my YouTube channel!:
Walking around Chungking Mansions in Hong Kong
So this last weekend it was time to do a visa run for our mainland China visas, so I went with a friend to Hong Kong for a day trip. We crossed the border at Louhu Station in Shenzhen into Hong Kong and planned to hit two destinations that day: Chungking Mansions (The Indian district of Hong Kong) and the Temple Street Market (The most famous street market in Hong Kong.)
From Lo Wu station, we went all the way to Kowloon Tong and transferred to the green line to Mong Kok. Then we transferred again to the red line and got off at Tsim Tsa Shui where Chungking Mansions is located. Upon arrival, we were bombarded with Indian men trying to sell us drugs. Over and over I kept hearing “Hash? Cocaine? Marijuana?” it was a pretty funny experience. We knew we were in the right place. Chungking Mansions is where I come in Hong Kong to buy all sorts of interesting things that can’t be found in mainland china. Mainly, I buy authentic Indian curry paste so I can make curry dishes like in Indian restaurants at home, and I also buy pinto beans so I can make refried beans (For some reason, pinto beans are just nonexistent in mainland China.)
Inside Chungking mansions we did a walk around which I filmed and found some amazing Indian food and some pretty cool deals. You can also get the cheapest hotels in Hong Kong in this area as well. I really love going to Hong Kong, because it’s such a culture shock compared to mainland China. It is really the feeling of being in a more developed country, instead of all Chinese people you truly see a mixing pot of people just like in America. I love it.
Here are the things I got from Chungking Mansions that day:
3 cans of authentic Indian curry paste: tikka paste, tandoori paste, and butter chicken paste. I can’t wait to try cooking with it at home! I also visited the Temple Street Market that day, and I will have a walk through video with the bargains I got coming next week!
Take a look at part one of our Hong Kong day trip below at Chungking mansions! Don’t forget to subscribe if you enjoy the video!
Hiking Wutong Mountain outside of Louhu in Shenzhen
A few days ago I went with my expat American friend Loren and his brother to Wutong Mountain (梧桐山) which is a small mountain village outside of Louhu in Shenzhen. The village is home to one of the most beautiful mountains I have ever had the pleasure of hiking in my life. Wutongshan is a rainforest-esque climb chock full of bamboo, wild birds chirping, torrential waterfalls and an absolutely breathtaking view of Shenzhen and Hong Kong at the summit.
It’s not an easy climb, either. In fact, Loren’s brother had to turn back about halfway up the mountain because he was too tired to continue. When I came to Shenzhen about two years ago and weighed 50 pounds more, I also could not complete this climb. There are seemingly endless sets of stairs that just keep going higher and higher.
Probably the coolest part about the hike is the myriad of beautiful waterfalls you will experience (Provided you take the stair route – if you decide to just walk up the road to the summit base, you may not see any waterfalls)
There are points where you have to practically rock climb to keep going. Once you get to the summit however, it’s pure bliss and satisfaction as you observe one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen in China.
Overall, I have hiked this mountain 3 times all the way to the summit now and it is an incredible workout, full of breathtaking views and an amazing way to get into nature in Shenzhen. Check out the full video of our hike complete with music below!
Adventure and good eats await!
Hello there guys, and welcome to my blog! My name is Ian Young. I’m 26 years old and from America, but am currently living in the city of Shenzhen located in the province of Guangdong in China. I have been living in China for two years now and since I came here, my life has been transformed. I developed a keen interest for travelling and cooking, and in recent months have decided to take my skills and curiosity to the internet. I started my cooking show The Laowai Chef a few months ago now, and already have 12 episodes on youtube. You can see my channel at this link. Please check it out and subscribe!
Today is officially the first day of my life as a digital nomad. I will be posting lots of pictures and recipes of some of the delicious foods I cook and updating this blog regularly, and every day as well. I will also be doing lots of videos about China and other countries in Asia, and eventually the world. I have planned an upcoming trip to go to Thailand this July or August so I am currently making preparations and planning to film and document the entire journey.
That’s it for today, but I’d like to leave you with a picture (I apologize for the poor quality. I am soon getting a quality film camera so all camera and video related quality issues will be soon amended!) of some spicy pork burgers that I once made, which was the first episode of my cooking show The Laowai Chef, featuring myself (Ian Young). Have a great day!
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