Busses, Planes, Trains and a Ferry

I'm home after 2 long bus journeys, two flights, numerous train journeys, a Stenaline ferry that had "technical difficulties" and finally an Irish ferries ferry that got me to Dublin.


I took the maglev train to the airport in Shanghai. The Maglev Train is high speed magnetic levitation train. It has a maximum normal operation speed of 431 kmh (268 mph). The maximum speed varies depending on the time of day. The photo below shows a sign that illustrates the train times and maximum speeds throughout the day.

Shanghai Maglev Train speeds

Shanghai Maglev

I took the train during one of the "slow" times so we only traveling at 301kmh.

301 kmh on the Maglev

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Squat Toilets in China

During my first month in China I had complained or commented on the toilets to friends. Well not just me the other westerners that I was traveling with did similar. All of the hostels I stayed in had western toilets but in shopping centers, restaurants, bus stations, train stations and even on trains you encounter squat toilets. At the time some Chinese friends said that these toilets are fine, wait until you get to Yunnan.

2 months later I am in Yunnan and taking an 8 hour bus journey from Dali to Shangri-la. 4 hours into the journey the bus stops at a restaurant for food and a toilet break. Squad toilets is to be expected they are the standard all over Asia but normally they have walls and doors surrounding them. Not the case when you leave the major cities in China.

Chinese toilets

Squat toilet in China

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Smoke, ganja, ganja, smoke?

A common problem you have to contend with when traveling is touts trying to sell you stuff such as drugs, hotel rooms, taxis or asking to take you to their "friends" shop or to a market. In Asia most of these touts seem to assume that every western tourist wants to buy drugs and as a result when you are in the main tourist areas you are constantly harassed by them.


In Shanghai when walking down the main tourist shopping street guys will walk along side you whispering "marijuana, cocaine". In Thailand things are a little different due to their strict approach to drug dealing and drug possession. Drugs are still offered to tourists but those offering them are quite discrete. Next you have Cambodia where restaurants will have "happy" items on the menu, for example you can order a regular pizza or a "happy" pizza. Marijuana is illegal in Cambodia yet it is sold in many restaurants and bars. The owners pay bribes to the local police and they are left alone.
Vietnam is a little more discrete than Cambodia but yet the moto taxi drivers ask if you want a taxi when you refuse their next question is if you want Marijuana. Malaysia is a little different, when you arrive in the airport you see a big sign saying "Drug possession is punishable by death".


Finally Dali in the Yunnan province in China is different, you are regularly offered drugs but they are far from your stereotypical drug dealer. When you walk around the old town you are constantly approached by elderly ladies who say "Smoke, ganja, ganja, smoke?". They are quite aggressive, they will follow you down the street repeating it over and over again and they do this everytime they see you. I was in Dali for almost two weeks and it was took until the second week for them to recognise me and to realise that I wasn't interested. I was not brave enough to take a picture of them when they were following me but I got a photo of them walking away.

Not your typical drug dealer