Author Archives: Mike
Curtin Express
Some things are best left unopened – particularly when they contain dark secrets. David Paget should have thought of that when he agreed to collect a suitcase from Hong Kong and take it to Australia. The contents look too old … Continue reading
Travel China – Tibet
The train was equipped with oxygen masks. It climbed the steady gradient through tunnels and over gorges on a track that had been completed a few months earlier. Lhasa now had a rail link with China’s coastal cities. The track … Continue reading
Travel China – Three Gorges cruise
The lake created by the Three Gorges Dam stretches all the way to the city of Congqing in the west and this is a good place to start a cruise down the Yangtze.
Travel China – Shanghai
It’s one of the world’s most dynamic cities and has been for a long time. The Europeans identified Shanghai as the place to do business and dominate China when the country was weak. It was a stronghold of the Mao … Continue reading
China Travel – Nanjing
Nanjing was founded almost three thousand years ago and was formerly China’s capital. The Nanjing Treaty of 1842, following the first of the so-called “opium wars”, granted Hong Kong to Britain. The war was over the “right” of foreigners to … Continue reading
Travel China – Lhasa
Old Lhasa is still there. The ancient shrines and houses continue to stand beside the Potola Palace but the scene is changing fast. Modern steel and concrete buildings are sprouting up. I’m reminded of what happened to old Jerusalem.
Travel China – Huang Shan Mountains
We have all seen Chinese paintings of misty mountains with trees and temples hanging in space. It is a very old style and I used to think of it as pure fantasy. Then I went to China and was surprised … Continue reading
Tibetan cool guy
I’ve met a few memorable people in my life and one was a Tibetan guy who organised the logistics for our climbing trip in the Himalayas. I injured my foot early in the proceedings and spent a lot of time … Continue reading
Mikestales Blog 