Forgot to tell as well..

The last ight in Macau, as you might have seen on flickr, we went to one of the many casinos.. We chose the most famous one, I think, The Venetian, an exact copy of a casino in Las Vegas. It was CRAZY!!! First of all, they play classic music all around this massive building, looking like a castle or something, and the little lake and the rivers and the lights, makes everything so romantic! And inside, they play the same music, and the roofs are painted with baroque motifs, the floor is undescribeable, and everything is shiny! And the gamblers are crazy too, mostly chinese people, they are crazy about gambling, but it is forbidden on mainland, so everyone goes to Macau.. No wonder they make a lot of money there! Never seen so many cards in my life, it is just like a movie!
And floor nr 2 is even crazier, they have made a copy, don't know how exact, but still, of Venice, with rivers and brigdes and gondols and a blue sky above.. Crazy.. Hahaha! And small houses, of course just the facade, but it looks good! And they have a huge shopping mall going on inside "Venice", with every shop you can think of. Crazy, that's my favourite word to describe it! HAHA!

How funny is that! Now we never have to go to Venice! (Just kidding! No reason not to go, I guess! But they even made a little breeze, so it felt like being outside, with a little wind..Wow..)

And today, not so funny, never got to the place we planned, cause it is raining, and I had to buy shoes, so we have wandered every street to find the right pair, and that is not to easy, cause one shop has only got the wrong sizes, another takes twice the price and so on and so on.. So you have to shop around for a while, to get a fair price and right size! But we made it. And that was today!
Not everyday is so amazing, just like normal life:)
And I bought the perfect pair of Converse, very good fake so I don't know if they're fake or not, and paid maybe 35 norwegian kroner. Happy!
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Updates and things we forgot to tell..

Just remembered we forgot to tell you that we just missed the Olympic torch with a few hours! In Yichang, which is a while ago.. We got there at 1 o'clock in the night and didn't know untill we left after a few days that we just missed the torch!! It was there the same day we arrived, but we arrived too late.. Our two chinese friends, who we met on the train from Yichang to Fenghuang, asked us when we had just met, how long we had stayed in Yichang, and we answered "three days or so" and they screamed: "DID YOU SEE THE TORCH???" And we said: "Torch?Torch? What torch?" And then we realized, it was the Olympic torch, and it had visited Yichang the day we arrived.. And we missed it!! And then we screamed: " OH NO!!!!!"
Hahaha, typically! Their friend did actually carry it, so at least we know someone who knows someone who carried the Olympic torch!!! It had, of course, been a wild day, I don't know how much they show on TV outside China, but here they show hours every day from the torch relay.. Every day! So we have definitely seen it on tv, but we just missed it in real life..

And then a funny story from today:
We have crossed the boarder from Macau back into China on foot( didn't see the boarder, we got off one bus on one side of a big building, and walked through passportcontrols twice, and then we were through), but the funny part was a little boy who spotted Kristoffer.. He stood just beside him, pointing at him and laughing his head off!!!!! He laughed so he almost couldn't stand on his feet, and so loud everyone turned to see what was going on!! IT WAS HILARIUOS!! I laughed for ten minutes straight again, and Kristoffer as well, hahaha!!! And everyone else, of course! So welcome back to be unormal looking again!

Now we try do decide what to do, cause it is raining all over South China, and it doesn't seem to stop anytime soon, so where to go? What to see?
We have no clue..
So what tomorrow brings, we don't know at all. (But then, who does?)
Good night!
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Still going strong in Macau!

So, we are a bit lazy, and couldn't be bothered to leave today, so we are still in Macau, and the raining is not too bad now. It actually was a typhoon yesterday, nr 3, so schools were closed, but most grown-ups had to go to work. In Hong Kong it was a typhoon nr 8, guess that's quite bad!

We have seen a different site of Macau today, went to the islands, and visited tiny village Coloane, and a bit bigger Taipa. Ate eggtart in Coloane, famous all over Asia, it was absolutely delicious! And in Taipa we ate pork chop bun, (svinekotelett mellom nystekt brod, mmmm), known all the way till Hong Kong, K read about it in a "hot stuff to see and do" magazine in HK, and then we had to go and try it! The restaurant only served it at 3 pm, so when we got there at 12, no one was there, and they didn't serve it, but when we got back at 3 pm, it was absolutely crowded! Funny! And very good:)

We have seen some churches and tiny streets and some really big casinos, and we like Macau! If only the rain could stop;)

Not much more to tell, except a few details:
1) I forgot to tell you, but in Guoliangcun (looong time ago!) Kristoffer screamed like a girl because of a bug (larvae, eller larve om du vil ha det paa norsk.) HAHAHA, I laughed for 10 minutes straight! Like it was going to attack him, hahahaha! I think not;) (Have I told you before? Hm..)
2) The eggtarts today was absolutely unforgettable, maybe someone should google a recipy and start practising to make it perfect till we get home, whenever that might be? Just a thought..
3) It's really raining, and I have no shoes, cause they never dried again after all the rain in Hong Kong, so I threw them out, and now I wander about in my flip-flops in typhoons.. Haha, stylish!

Okej, enough now!
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Macau!

We got safely over to the other side, and arrived in Macau just an hour after leaving Hong Kong, by boat. When we left it was public posters everywhere saying "Typhoon signal nr 1 is hoisted", so we were a bit afraid the boats wouldn't go as usual, but they did, and it wasn't to much wind or waves or anything, actually.. So Typhoon nr1 was easy! At least on us, maybe it got worse after we left, I don't know..
Nothing much have happened since last time, K still won't write on our blog, but he is working on flickr right now, so you can enjoy our pictures;) And I still don't know why he didn't go swimming, it is a mystery, Jorid, I'm sorry.. I will push him to answer you;) Hahaha!

I can tell you about our hotel here in Macau, it has got ants everywhere, also in bed, and the walls, they don't go all the way up tp the roof, nor all the way down to the floor.. (Paa godt norsk: skillevegger..) So I guess you would call it paperthin walls, haha! We can hear our neighbour counting papermoney.. Hahaha! But it is so so cheap!

The first night we ate in a bit expensive italian restaurant, lovely fish, and saw all the casinos by night, quite a sight! And yesterday we walked all day, saw some churches, some ruins, some small streets, this doesn't remind us of China at all, but that is of course because it is a former portoguese (how to spell that in english??) colony, this is like Southern Europe.. Not like China:) And then we ate in an expensive restaurant again, have to get back to budget now!

Today it is raining like crazy, I have never seen anything like it, so maybe this is the Typhoon, but I don't think so, it is not windy, so I guess we're safe. We had planned a lovely day on the beach, but no, that's not happening now.. So it's a happy day on the internet instead;) The two last days have been too warm, it is impossible to sleep or do anything, I cannot remember to have felt this warm ever, but I guess I was in Africa.. And Bosnia, right, Silje? Not the best temperatures for me, but K is coping well with it:)

Guess that's it, tomorrow we are going back into real China, spending at least 3 more weeks before we enter South East Asia. Anyone going to Thailand in July? See you there;)

So long!
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Still Hong Kong!

So, last time we had just arrived, or almost, and now, all of a sudden, we are leaving Hong Kong tomorrow! Going to Macau, the Las Vegas of Asia.. And no money to gamble away, luckily! Haha!;)

We have had a great time in Hong Kong, this place is really like no other place on earth, it is som diverce and so mixed and so on and so on, it never ends surpirising, I guess.

We lived for a week on Hong Kong Island, in Sheung Wan, near Soho, on a guys couch, really great, the couchsurfing-thing, I recommend it to everyone! What a great way to travel! And not because it is free to stay, but because you get to know local people, which means you get to see the place from a different angle, it is amazing! We hung out with our host if we wanted to, or we stayed at his place just watching tv. And we used his kitchen, making dinner, wow, and we ate bread and cheese everyday, loved it! Then the time came to move on and move out, and we moved to another couchsurfinghost, and spent one night in Shek O, a tiny village on Hong Kong Island, far away from all the tall buildings and all the people! It was maybe 3000 inhabitants, two beautiful beaches and a lot of illegal houses, so small it was unbelieveable, but there they were. If it wwsn't for couchsurfing, we would never have seen that part of Hong Kong, that's for sure! And when we arrived there, late at night, we saw a rare sight, a whole lot of fishing boats, lighting up the ocean, fishing for squid! Amazing!! Our host had only seen it two times, and he has lived there for a year! His house was tiny, so we only stayed for one night, and then we moved on, to Chungking Mansions, a place in downtown, I have never seen so many people in one place!! If I should compare it to something, it must be Gronland in Oslo, except it is not an area, but 5 or 6 giant bulidings linked together, with a lot of cheap hostels and apartements, which makes it a colorful place to stay! And that brings the best food and the brightest smiles;) And it is not too expensive, as the rest of Hong Kong, but we still can't afford to stay here longer.. And just in the neighbourhood is a hotel, which used to be the most expensive in the world.. Wow.. That's some building! And they have a telescope in each room! To see the night skyline of Hong Kong Island, have some great pictures, will upload on Flickr anytime soon.. This is some city..
And it is true, you really can buy everything here, it is crazy, if we had more money, I would have bought a whole lot.. Glad I haven't, cause my backpack is heavy enough! ;) But you should see the cute dresses and the tops and tshirts and skirts and stuff, and they really have everything.. I want to go shopping!! We have to leave tomorrow, before I start spending money.. No shopping. Final.

We have spent two days on two different islands, yesterday on Lamma Island, an island without cars! Just like Ihla Grande, remember, Marit?? Lovely;)
We found a beach and settled for some hours, ate watermelon, and I even went for a swim!! So now I can add SouthChinaSea to my lakesandwatersandoceansIhaveswimmedin! Kristoffer didn't swim.. Why? I don't know, it was lovely! Think he was too lazy to be bothered.. Or something, ask him;)
Today we went to Lantau Island, but it turned out to be very expensive, cause they doubled the prices on Sundays, don't know why again. We went to see the worlds largest sitting outdoor bronze Buddha statue, but then we couldn't afford to go to the beach and back, as we would have spent more than 100 HK dollars on bus on one day, and that is way over budget, so we wnt back, and did some windowshopping.. And visited another temple, which was free:) Would rather see the 3 km long beach than the Buddha, but we didn't know when we went, so.. It happens, just the way it is! Have to find a beach somewhere else, think we can manage!

Now we're drinking coffee and enjoing free internet in a cafe, lovely, but I have already spent too much time on this computer, it's soon a long queue, hehe!

I'll write again in Macau, I guess! And push K to write, don't think he has written since March. Typically.. You know him;) He is lovely! Hahaha!

Okej, have a good time! Enjoy summer wherever you are! And please ask if you want to know more about places we go, it is hard to remember everything under such free-internet-makes-a-long-queue-pressure;)

Oh, almost forgot, we saw a Human Rights campaign here, (do not read this if you are a kid..)China is really doing some terrible things to people with the wrong religion and so on, pictures of torture and so on, it really takes the appetite away, so if you can, please tell the right people with power to do something, it is horrible.. But I don't think boicotting the olympics will help. We have to be harder! Anything would help! So if anyone knows the primeminister or something, give her/him a call!
Thanks!
It is also good to be in a place where people can say and do what they want, we should all appreciate it more, we are more lucky than we are thankful for, I'm afraid. So be thankful, and help make changes elsewhere. ;)
Sorry, a lot of moral there..

Okej, I'm done!
Have a good week!
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Guangzhou.

Ups, this is supposed to be before Hong Kong, but I forgot to tell about it.. 

We didn't have hard seats to Guangzhou as we expected, we had lovely soft beds!! And the trip didn't last all day and night, it was only 8 hours or so, so we arrived around 1500, and were not ready to leave the train at all! The doors actually closed before I got out, but a not so nice train-lady helped me, while yelling at me that I was to late, I guess, it was chinese..

We spend 4 days in Guangzhou, it is really not much to see or do, and it was quite expensive. And funny, the hostel we stayed at were really a hotel, but they had a room with a microwave and free internet, so they called themselves hostel, haha! 

We saw an orchidee-park with no blooming orchidees, haha, and a suit made of jade and silk-thread, found in a tomb of a prince or emperor or something, but the funniest and scariest part was that we could enter the real tomb, and that was of course underground and small and scary.. At least cause it said "here we found 4 concubines" and in a monter it was some bones and other remains from humans, it looked like black little stones and sand, it was so old.. Scary!

And besides that we didn't do much. We had breakfast at Starbucks every day, cause that was the cheapest option.. It is nothing we are proud of, but that's the way it is;) And here in Hong Kong we might even be forced to eat at McDonalds, as everything is so expensive..

Okey, enough blogging today!

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Hong Kong!!

We can actually see our own blog!!! WOW, I really like Hong Kong, no censure at all, like it a lot!

Now we could read all the messages you have left us the last 1 1/2 months, thanks a lot, it is so nice to know that you all read and follow our travel from home, we really appreciate it;)

We arrived here in Hong Kong on Friday evening, today is Sunday, right? Yes, it is, hard to count all the days, they kind of mix up when they're all the same, no work, no stress, good food, good fun, new friends, you know, the way life should always be;) No, just kidding, I like to work as well, later..

We are trying out couchsurfing for the first time, which means stay in a strangers place for free, great invention!! It is a internet-site where we have signed up, and then we can search for hosts in the citys and towns we go to, and maybe someone have time and wants to host, and then we meet a new friend, and gets much closer to the culture, all in one! Very good idea!

Our first host is a great guy, he asked us to stay till Wednesday, love it! And here in Hong Kong the hostels are crazy expensive, just like everything else, so it is a very good way to save money:) And we can even cook, love it, it's been too long since we made our own food!! And they have bread here, real dark bread!! And butter, and cheese, it is lovely, we are almost only eating bread with cheese, haha!! Didn't knew that was what I was going to miss the most, but it really is! Wow.. It is soooo good!!

Hong Kong is not like the rest of China at all, here it is very western and chinese at the same time, which can be both confusing and great! It is hard to describe it, but we like it! The streets are much more narrow than I thought, and it is always crowded, so many peoples live here, you are never alone.. Right now we live on Hong Kong Island, on the foot of Victoria Peak, it is quite steep here actually! We have still not been up there, the weather is not to good, it is actually quite bad, haha, terrible rain, the night we arrived some streets were flooded.. And from the train on the way here we saw many places with water covering road-signs and so on, it looked quite serious, but we have not heard anything on the news, so I guess it is under control. The last two days it has not been raining that much, so now it is not a problem anymore:) 

I have forgot to tell you some details about China..

1) Men have long fingernails.. I mean, really long!! It is so ugly! We think it is because the emperors just to have it long time ago, and it shows you don't have to do anything.. So it is a good thing, but it looks so bad.. 

2) Chinese people talk VERY LOUD IN THEIR MOBILES IN PUBLIC PLACES!!!! It is unbelievable, they are practically shouting, and it doesn't matter how close you stand, they will still shout like you weren't there, and didn't feel the pain from the shouting..

3) If they don't speak english, and they are trying to make us understand chinese, some of them move closer and shout louder, like that would make us understand, haha!! And again, I mean, really loud..

4) Oh, I forgot the last one, but I can write it the next time..

Have fun go mad!

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Jishou og Changsha

Naa er jeg saa ofte paa bloggen at jeg er helt stolt, men det kan ha noe med aa gjore at det ikke skjer saa mye;)

Har glemt aa fortelle at jeg har sett noe som maa vaere en av verdens storste edderkopper, ikke som en tarantella altsaa, men en rimelig stor en som bodde paa vaart rom i Fenghuang, og det var seriost edderkopper overalt naar jeg tenker etter. Det laa ved elva, masse smaafluer, ergo masse edderkopper. Den storste som bodde i taket vaart var kanskje like stor som bunnen i en kaffe kopp! Heheh! Men den var ikke farlig for oss, fikk vi vite, bare for fluer! Og naar vi vaakna paa morran var det ingen fluer der, saa det stemte nok det. Da var ogsaa edderkoppen borte, noe som var litt skummelt.. Men den dukka opp igjen seinere, hehe! Dette stedet hadde ogsaa sin andel av flaggermus, og det var i grunn noen riktige naturopplevelser i forhold til insekter og lignende;)

I gaar kveld satte vi oss paa toget fra Jishou, der det ikke skjedde noe, kun litt internet foer toget gikk, til Changsha. Her dukket vi opp kl 6 i dag tidlig, det er ikke saa lett aa finne ut hvor lang tid det tar med tog, det staar igrunn bare avgangstid.. Saa vi kjopte hardseats, i god tro, og endte opp med aa sitte der i 10 timer, uten saerlig mye sovn! De setene er virkelig harde, og saa rette i ryggen at det er en gru!

Og samme smell gaar vi nok paa i morra, naar vi drar herfra 6:22 paa morran, og ikke aner naar vi dukker opp i Guangzhou.. Paa like harde seter! Flott!

Ellers skjer det ikke mye, vi skal bare ha tilbakelagt alle disse kilometerne foer vi naermer oss HongKong.. Og i dag regner det, saa da blir det som i gaar.. Internet;)

Spennende liv? Joda, vi er i alle fall i Kina;)
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Fenghuang

Vi har kommet oss til Fenghuang, det var ikke helt meninga, men paa toget fra Yichang motte vi to kinesiske jenter som snakker engelsk, og de skulle ha en liten ferie fra eksamenslesinga, saa vi ble med de hit, og dette stedet er virkelig populaert for kinesiske turister! Det er stappfullt av folk, overprisa og alle hus har juletrebelysning om kvelden og natta, haha, det er urkomisk! Men paa en bra maate! Og kineserne elsker det virkelig, det er nesten enda mer komisk!
Men det er pent her ogsaa, en flott elv, gjett om vi skal bade etterpaa! Masse traer og en nydelig gamleby, bygd av stein, med en flott mur og flotte hus hele veien! Pent;)
Vi drar videre i morra, til Dehang, et mindre sted, garantert uten internet, ogsaa drar vi til Hongkong etter det. Blir bra! Er jo ikke engang Kina, saa det blir et skikkelig avbrekk, fra ferien, hehe!
Det var en kort oppdatering!
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For lenge siden!!

Hei hei hei, beklager dette, men det er aldeles umulig aa komme seg paa bloggen, det er jo som regel stengt.. Jaja, det har dere vel lest foer, hehe!
Var saa lenge siden at jeg ikke orker aa skrive engelsk, beklager det!
Siden Guoliangcun har vi bodd et par dager i Zhenzhou, der skjedde det ikke saerlig masse, maa innromme det, men saa kom vi oss til Xi'an, der vi har vaert i 8 dager, flott hostell, masse hyggelige mennesker osv! Har vaert og sett pandaer, de bodde i bur, saa det var litt trist ogsaa, men de hadde i alle fall aircondition, det var jo bra! Var WWF sitt prosjekt, saa det kan ikke ha vaert for ille.. Og de var utrolig sote, det maa sies, disse pandaene! Saa ogsaa golden monkeys og et merkelig dyr som saa ut som en blanding av ku og hest og alle andre klovdyr, med en honninggul farge, hehe!
Var ogsaa aa saa Terracotta Warriors, historien er jo utrolig, 7000 terracotta soldater, som alle ser forskjellige ut i fjeset og har forskjellig rang innen militaeret regner de med aa finne, ikke alt er gravd fram enda, men det vi fikk se var stort sett imponerende! Til og med hester og vogner ble laget og gravd ned, med en hel haer! Det er verdens storste grav, trur den er 56kvkm eller noe! Det er ganske droyt! Men mesteparten er ikke gravd fram, og pga OL eller noe, saa er alle teskjeer og pensler lagt ned, aner ikke hvordan det ble logisk, men det er mye rart som skjer her som ikke er det! Har mott en som underviste engelsk og hadde 1 aars visum, men saa bestemte myndighetene seg for at de var terrorister, i betydningen utlendinger som gir kinesere et annet bilde av Kina og Kinas handlinger enn det de vil at kinesere skal ha, saa da var det sparken til 200 utenlandske laerere uten mer grunn enn det. Og ingen har noe de skulle ha sagt, det er det som er saa droyt! Her gaar det an aa gjore hva som helst om man har makt, men uten det saa skal man ikke si saa mye.. Rart aa se!

I alle fall, det er endel jobb igjen for aa faa fram alle terrakotta-gutta, og naar de klarer det, om de kommer igang igjen, saa trur jeg det blir et helt utrolig syn!!

Saa ogsaa et vann og lysshow i Xi'an, Asias storste, med enorme fontener og alle slags lys og fyrverkeri og ganske komisk musikk!Artig!

Etter Xi'an satt vi 16 timer paa tog, dagtog, hardt sete, for aa komme oss til Yichang, her finnes ikke saa mye aa se, men Three Gorges er her, saa derfor kommer endel turister! Vi motte 5 nordmenn, hehe, 4 ingeniorer, ganske artig, og typisk at de skulle se dammen, det er klart! Vi saa den jo mye pga storebror ingenior, hihih! Men den var verdt det, den er ubeskrivelig stor, og naar den staar ferdig skal den visstnok kunne dekke energibehovet til 1/3 av Kina, som er sykt mye!! Imponerende;)
Byen har mer aa by paa enn det, selv om det hadde vaert nok, saa vi har vaert her i 3 dager og kost oss, de har noen flotte parker og Yangze River renner gjennom byen, saa vi har vaert og vassa, hehe! Det er saa pent noen steder, at det er helt utrolig!! ;) Ubeskrivelig!

I dag skal vi reise videre ut paa landet igjen, til en liten landsby som visstnok er helt utrolig pen, saa det gleder vi oss til! Og etter det vender vi nesa mot HongKong, visumet gaar snart ut, og det er nok best aa vaere paa den sikre siden naar det kommer til saanne ting her i Kina ogsaa.. Hihi!;)

Skal prove aa skjerpe oss med bloggen, Kristoffer har naa tatt helt ferie fra den mesteparten av tida, haha, men vi faar ta oss sammen! Det er bare saa kjipt at vi ikke faar sett den paa nett her, faar ikke lest kommentarer heller, saa om det er noe veldig viktig eller veldig koselig maa dere sende mail! Men det er hyggelig med kommentarer uansett! Tusen takk for det!

Snakkes snart igjen;)
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