Day 16: how to discover Hangzhou
Rebecca still hadn't run in China so was very happy to find a perfect path around a beautiful lake right outside her hotel. She was happy to be outside, looking at the people strolling and doing their morning Tai Chi and fan dances. She walked a little to get away from the crowd and began running with the lake on one side and the mountains ahead. She followed the lake around and crossed a bridge appreciating the lotus and rock gardens and how intricate the paths were getting. When she understood she was lost, she also realized she had no money to take a taxi back to the hotel. She finally found a nice man who understood the problem and her sign language, called her a taxi and showed him the hotel business card. At the hotel, she ran up to the room, woke Jerome, grabbed money and paid the taxi.
Once Rebecca had cooled off from the morning heat, we went out to explore Xi Hu - West Lake. Since it was Sunday, it was very crowded but we were happy to see a couple other foreign faces. The lake is truly beautiful, with nice views of pagodas, moutains, trees and flowers. We appreciated the diverse landscape and atmosphere. There were causeways crossing from the shore to the islands and boats criss-crossing the water.
We decided to eat on one of the islands at the Louwailou Caiguan restaurant famous for it's West Lake fish cooked in a sweet vinegar sauce. The place was tacky but we enjoyed the view and the food.
After lunch, we continued walking and enjoyed the many paths winding through the trees. Jerome had to admit that getting lost is understandable. We also visited a beautiful private house just on the lake - there were various sections, each builiding surrounding water. There were moon doors, bonsais and mutant gold fish. We continued to walk until the path ended and then headed to Carrefour for essentials such as disinfectant wipes, underwear and m&m's.
We decided to check out the nightlife so after some research we headed to a place that sounded cool in the local magazine. It turned out to be something out of a bad German TV show with German renditions of American favorites and laser lights everywhere. After one drink, we tried to find something to eat. Once again, the address we had was a little wrong. On the verge of total frustration, we finally found the Cantonese restaurant hidden amongst the bars. We pointed at the dishes we wanted and ended up with some pretty decent stuff although it was overpriced. Then we went back to the hotel. Since we had access to something other than CCTV9 for once, we had to take advantage so we watched a really bad movie on HBO...
Click here to see lucky fish
Click here to see the 'German style' bar
Once Rebecca had cooled off from the morning heat, we went out to explore Xi Hu - West Lake. Since it was Sunday, it was very crowded but we were happy to see a couple other foreign faces. The lake is truly beautiful, with nice views of pagodas, moutains, trees and flowers. We appreciated the diverse landscape and atmosphere. There were causeways crossing from the shore to the islands and boats criss-crossing the water.
We decided to eat on one of the islands at the Louwailou Caiguan restaurant famous for it's West Lake fish cooked in a sweet vinegar sauce. The place was tacky but we enjoyed the view and the food.
After lunch, we continued walking and enjoyed the many paths winding through the trees. Jerome had to admit that getting lost is understandable. We also visited a beautiful private house just on the lake - there were various sections, each builiding surrounding water. There were moon doors, bonsais and mutant gold fish. We continued to walk until the path ended and then headed to Carrefour for essentials such as disinfectant wipes, underwear and m&m's.
We decided to check out the nightlife so after some research we headed to a place that sounded cool in the local magazine. It turned out to be something out of a bad German TV show with German renditions of American favorites and laser lights everywhere. After one drink, we tried to find something to eat. Once again, the address we had was a little wrong. On the verge of total frustration, we finally found the Cantonese restaurant hidden amongst the bars. We pointed at the dishes we wanted and ended up with some pretty decent stuff although it was overpriced. Then we went back to the hotel. Since we had access to something other than CCTV9 for once, we had to take advantage so we watched a really bad movie on HBO...
Click here to see lucky fish
Click here to see the 'German style' bar
posted by Gros Joe at
12:55 PM
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