Trekking in the mountains

We spent the entire day trekking in the hills and stayed in a guesthouse for the night

Chitwan National Park

The entire day was spent here watching the local wildlife.The Chitwan National Park has over 500 one horned asiatic rhinos. When Nepal's conservation of rhinos began in 1960, the number of rhinos in Chitwan National Park was less than 100. - Sapa-DPA

A day of temples and stupas

Patan durbur square is located in the centre of Patan city.It houses the residence of the former Patan royal family



Changu Narayan is the temple of Vishnu,in the village of Changu in Bhaktapur.This 5th century temple, located over a hillock 15 km east of Kathmandu
Swayanbthnath stupa is also known as the monkey temple due to the population of monkeys here


It takes 365 steps to reach the Swayanbthnath stupa

Nepal

For a small sum of money one can have prayer candles lighted here
The monks then offer the candies to the public

Bisciuts and sweets are blessed

Shops near the stupa

There is a large Tibetan population here in Nepal who fled Tibet when the Chinese invaded their country in 1959

The iconic Boudanath Stupa was our first stop upon arrival in Nepal.The local Tibetans worship here

Last day in China

I checked out of my hotel room at 8.30am and booked another cab to take me around the city before I go to the airport

Bajie pagoda- I wonder if the architects of the TV tower drew their inspiration from the Chinese pagoda

Sun Yet Sun Memorial. Dr Sun Yat Sun was a revolutionary hero who helped bring down the Qing Dynasty

Visiting the Nanyue Mausoleum Museum was the most intersting activity of my trip to China


THe Mausoleum was discovered in 1983, 20 metrres underneath Xianggang shan (Elephant hill) during the construction of a hotel
Entrance to the tomb
The west side chamber was a sort of storeroom for the king.The various objects that belonged to the king in his lifetime was buried here.This included ornaments for horses and carriages, weopons and jade objects
The main coffin room housed the inner and outer coffins that protected the king. The coffins have have rotted beyond repair.On the east side of the room was place a screen made of lacquer. On the west side were placed bronzed dagger axes and other weapons like ironarrowheads. The king was dressed in a jade suit sewn together with silk threads and resting on a pillow stuffed with pearls. The whole body was covered in a number of large jade disks.On both sides of his waist were placed 10 iron swords. One of them was 1.46 metres long-the longest Han Dynasty iron sword that has been discovered. Aseal bearing the name "Zhao Mo "helped Chinese historians identify the owner of the tomb
The eastern side chamber was a storeroom for ritual objects, table wares, wine containers and musical instruments.Remains of a sacrificial person who might have been a musician was found near the chime bells
Photo taken when the Mausoleum was discovered and being unearthed
In the western annex chamber the remains of 5 persons was discovered without coffins.There were also bones of cow,sheep ansd pigs. A seal of the Leading Chef found here indicates that these sacrificial persons were cooks and servants of the king. The eastern annex chamber 4 concubines were buried here in lacquer coffins with jades objects and bronze mirrors. Seals were also found with the incriptions "The seal of Lady Right" ,"The Seal of Lady left", The Seal of Lady Tai", and "The Seal of Lady Bu"

Inscription of the seal found in the tomb reads as "Executive seal of Emperor Wen"
It was the discovery of this seal that enable the Chinese archeologists to identify the owner of the tomb as the second king of NanYue
Iron tip weapons unearthed from the tomb
These pieces uncovered showed that horses were used during this period


The king was entertained with music made by these chime bells


The king was buried in a suit made of 2,291 jade pieces

After a couple of centuries this is all that remain of the king
Pearls were used to stuf the pillow that the king laid on

Map showing the extent of the Nanyue.It consisted of parts of the modern Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and much of modern northern Vietnam
There was another exhibition at the museum. Liaoning province is situated in the north eastern part of China, right next to North Korea


These clay figurines gives us an idea of their manner of dressing in those days

Foreigners must have been trading in the area
Anther clay figurine with non Chinese features

Statues of Gods and mythical creatures
I only had about 30 minutes to tour the Museum before heading to Guanzhou Bai Yun Airport for my flight home

Second day in Guanzhou

Guangzhou can be reached by routes on land and water from all directions and it is the gathering point of foreign merchants and seagoing ships. Collected there are herds of elephants ,pearls and jade,special incense and potent medicines,fabulous and strange creatures. People from all directions live together in the marketplaces. They treat their persons lightly in the pursuit of profits.They go among the waves and face unpredictable dangers. and if they die they do not regret it...
Zhang Jie a Prefect,wrote his observation on life in Guangzhou in 1096
We woke up early so that as Bryan had an appointment in the office.The restaurant belt takes on a different look in the day
We took a slow walk to Bryan's office. This area is called the Tian He district
No gondolos needed to clean the office block where Bryan's office is located
Bryan's appointment was cancelled so we decided to go to Wang Sha district for lunch and sightseeing

Beef brisket noodles
At only 4 renmimbi or $1 singapore dollar for a meal, China's a great place to travel
Bryan wanted to pick up some stationary at the wholesale centre
Bryan had to go shop for a jacket as Tiger air lost his luggage

There was no cab in sight ,so we opted for a motorbike ride to the chen family ancestral hall
The driver charged us 10 Renminbi for the ride
I have seen the write up on the Chen ancestral hall in the net. It did not do justice to the real thing close up
Intricate carvings adorn the wall
On the roof are sculptures of lions and deities
In the late of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a man with the surname Chen got the third place in the imperial examination and had conferred upon him a distinguished office title which made the Chen family well-known. Later someone suggested that all the families with the surname raise money to build a temple to sacrifice to the ancestors and encourage their offspring likewise to study hard. Therefore, the temple was finished in 1894 with the money donated by these families in 72 counties of Guangdong Province as well as some overseas members of Chen clan.In the Imperial examination system only the top three scholars are awarded titles. This is why it is so prestigious.
It had been a long day but Bryan was not going to get any rest soon.He has too head back to Macau for his flight back to Singapore.I was lucky to have booked the Singapore Airlines flight back from Guangzhou's Baiyun airport.We rushed back to have a quick dinner
Guandong province is famous for its Chee Chang Fun
as well as porridge

After dinner we took a cab to send Bryan off to the bus station for his ride back to Macau. i told the cab driver to bring me to the Pearl River for some photo taking

Delie bridge

The Chinese have a love affair with bridgesThe unfinished guanzhou Tv tower
The lights change colours every now and then


Guanzhou Exhibition centre.Twice a year there is a big trade fair here that draws in visitors from all over the world.Hotels triple the price of their rooms during this period