Travels with Kathryn

I am writing this from the comfort of my sofa having safely arrived home yesterday morning.

No problems on the flight and (oh the joys!) there was a spare seat next to me (in a row of 3) which certainly helped the sleeping which I did for a good portion of the flight. I also watched Wonka, which, as I had zero expectations of, I rather enjoyed. We landed on time, and I was very speedy through immigration – probably because, unlike the vast majority of my flight, I was not “foreign” and could therefore use the e-gates. It seems off to be around people of all different races and ethnicities, but also rather nice.

No problems on the train back to London, although you could tell that even though I was on a commuter train that it was a Friday, so plenty of seats! I walked in my front door within 2 hours of landing, which I thought was pretty good going. I then unpacked, did laundry, showered, and then endeavoured to stay awake as long as possible…

I also spent my time giving Monkey a sponge bath as he was looking rather feral. I also gave his tshirt a good soak in Oxybleach and it came up lovely.

So, this post was intended to be something of an aide memoire for me, and a top tips for anyone else planning to travel to China in the not too distant future. Here we go:

• Using your phone – when I went to China 6 years ago, public wifi was everywhere and without a password, so I was intending to rely on this along with a vpn. This was not to be. I really feel an eSim is essential (or if, like me, your phone does not support a second/eSim a local sim or pay vast amounts of money for data). My vpn worked when I was on data, but not on wifi, so if you are using an eSim, get one that includes a vpn. The reason for this is otherwise you will probably only be able to use internet in your hotel room and you will find that the majority of everyday sites/apps are not accessible (because of the Great Chinese Firewall). You need your phone to use AliPay, Didi, aMap, WeChat (more on these below) as well as translation services and anything Google related. I would highly recommend sorting an eSim before heading to China.
• Local Apps – Again, before I left the UK, I had downloaded AliPay, aMap, and WeChat. AliPay is the “go-to” app to pay for everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything – from big shops to single fruitsellers on the side of the road. Everyone uses it and much prefers it to cash, which sometimes you kind of have to force onto people! WeChat is Chinese WhatsApp and useful to interact with locals and also has a payment functionality (which I did not use). aMap is a local version of Google Maps, and I found it much more useful as it had the correct (in English and Chinese characters) addresses and more local reviews of things like restaurants and attractions. Finally, Didi was a godsend – its Chinese Uber/Bolt and works in exactly the same way. Note, again, you will need to download these before arrival on China (although note WeChat requires a “friend” to invite you, but someone will do that for you in China). You will see from this list as to why data is needed to use your phone, as if you want to pay for anything, you will need access to the internet.
• Clothing – I packed the wrong clothes (to an extent) with 2 pairs of shorts. No one wears shorts. In retrospect, I wish I had taken the extra dress (which was in the bag at one point) and cropped trousers. Most people in my group embraced the beige trouser, but I was fine in my black linen. Given the temperatures linen was my friend.
• Wipes/tissues – many toilets (and most are squat) do not provide paper, so I always carried my own. I would also highly recommend body wipes for overnight trains in hot countries.
• Laundry – whilst most hotels offered laundry services, it was, imho, very expensive (usually per item rather than weight) but luckily I had my washbag, detergent and washing line with me so was able to do my own.
• Plastic bottles – the Chinese do not drink cold drinks (often fridges are not even switched on but merely used for display purposes), and often you can not buy large bottles of water anyway. If you are relying on bottled water (as I was), you end up getting through a staggering number of plastic bottles. Oh, the environmental guilt. Many rooms have kettles, so you can rely on boiled cooled water, but next time, I would take purification tablets or a life straw. I also needed to take more mini squash (to make tepid water palatable)
• Toiletries – I was away for just over a month in total, but often having 3 showers a day, so I got through way more toiletries than I thought I would. Next time, pack accordingly.

So, that is it. The end. I have had a great time, and it feels a little rather too soon to be going back to reality. I am already planning the next mini-trips – there are certainly parts of the   Southern Silk Road I would like to visit, such as Pakistan, Iran, and India. I have also been looking at a trip to Mongolia (having loved the empty spaces of China and Kyrgyzstan), but really, that will need to be a next summer trip given the climate. My next opportunity will probably be Christmas, so maybe Nepal or Sri Lanka. I then branched off and started reseraching safaris (I have never seen an African elephant in real life) in Botswana. I also need to start planning my next “big” trip, which will probably be South America. Maybe when I turn 45? We shall have to see. For now, I start work in my new job on Monday, which will come in handy in paying for said trips!

Thank you to everyone with me for sticking with me through the whole Silk Road (including the beginning at the end). In terms of statistics for the China leg, as of today 2,231 individuals have read the blog (or at least something on it) from 17 countries. This is most exciting.

Travels with Kathryn will return…