From Cheng Du to Chong Qing by high speed train is only 2 hours apart but the landscape is very different.
As you approach the city China gets a lot more 3D
and instead of the standard issue high rise flats that deface most of the
country the view changes. Mountains and trees take over from concrete, houses
are built into the land instead of unsympathetically on top of it. Even though
Chong Qing is a thriving city with its own mini-Manhattan commercial hub the
whole area feels more spacious and easier to breathe. Literally and
figuratively.
Our assistant had invited us here to have an early
New Year Dinner with her family so met us from the train station and took us on
a tour.
We visited the hill side prison where aspirational
communists were held pre-PRC rule. They don't get many non-Chinese tourists in
these parts so Gabriella was translating for us as we went around. Soon a crowd
had gathered and our group of 4 (Gabriella's uncle had supplied a driver to
move us around town- very generous of him to spare his driver but as we
experienced later when Gabriella drove us back to our hotel, it was done partly
to protect his new car!) turned into a crowd of 20 cramming into each cell.
Photos and videos were taken, some sneakily, some blatantly. We're
quite used to this now and are normally quite relaxed about it (exception to
follow) but G wasn't too keen on the attention so was relieved to move
on.
Next stop 'porcelain street'- an old hillside street
kept 'traditional' in that way tourist attractions are. It's said that
you can eat something different everyday in Chong Qing and not get bored.
This street does its best to live up to that so we grazed on various delicacies as we went- nut brittle, sesame dough balls, dry-ice mango (not convinced that one's traditional) and avoided the stinkiest stinky tofu I've ever smelt.
Sichuan food is widely thought to be the best cuisine in China. We think
so and seek it out in Beijing where the local cuisine is bland by comparison.
Sichuan is all about the spice and contains a pepper that numbs your mouth as
you eat it. Strange sensation but tastes great and seems to be slightly
addictive. As such we were very much looking forward to a traditional
Sichuan dinner when we meet up with Gs family.
As we drove to meet them however I felt worse and
worse and by the time we reached the restaurant was green. There are times in
your life when you just want to be left to die in your own bathroom. Sadly
these times are normally when the best option is an open-plan squat loo. Such
was the theme of the evening. Desperate to try and avoid being rude at a
significant event (think being invited to Xmas dinner) I feigned eating and
drinking but was losing content far quicker than I was taking it onboard.
Chris had to do the heavy lifting gastronomically and conversationally as
I didn't dare chat incase it wasn't just words that came out.
After a night of hallucinations we checked out for
day 2 of sight seeing. The smell of food was too much for me so after a quick
stroll around town Chris & Gabriella went to grab some noodles while I
paced around doing deep breaths trying not to disgrace myself in public.
It is impossible to be in a town in China and a)
avoid strong smelling food b) avoid people keen to look at a westerner. As such
I had gathered a small crowd as I was hit by arsegiblet-soup fumes and threw up
in a bin next to the Independence Memorial.
As I slumped on the floor in the rain waiting for
the others to return I was less than open to the photos and 'where you from'
chat from undeterred locals.
The next bit is all a bit hazy but we left for the
airport, got our first flight to Guangzhou, and had just boarded our 2nd flight
to Hanoi when Chris was struck down too and passed out on take off.
The only upside to being the sicky/fainty couple was
an upgrade to business so they could assign us our own loo.
And on that glamorous note we arrived in
Vietnam.
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