[BenderBends]

hey...

its my 3rd year anniversary coming up, and we wanted to go somewhere nice, and somewhere laid back. it needs to be relatively cheap cause im undergoing recovery from bank fraud.

anyways...we dont like bars or nightlife...we like to take photos and enjoy outdoors. we also like night walks and night photos...so it should be a safe area....
we do like poor areas, as well as nice areas. prefer villages over big cities. definitely prefer off the beaten path places.

any recommendations?

[BenderBends]

no suggestions for a nice village experience or rural mountain areas or anything around here (hk, thailand, vietnam, china, etc)

[Lammarite]

Jump on a train and head across the border. Yangshuo and surrounding areas with the river up to YangDi or a flight up to Chengdu and head to Emei Shan, the world's biggest Buddha, panda reserves etc, etc.
It's cheap, fun and the photography is A1.

[BenderBends]

where is the panda place? emei shan? or a different place?

[BenderBends]

also....been to yangshou...and planning on going again to there and guilin...but was just seeing if any other places of recommendation.

thank you though...especially for the pandas....

[Lammarite]

Originally Posted by mattstewart

where is the panda place? emei shan? or a different place?

There is a big panda reserve just outside Chengdu. We flew into Chengdu and did Leshan to Emei Shan and back to Chengdu. We hiked up Emei Shan which is 3ooometres and 40,000 steps or something and stayed in a monastery overnight before heding for the top. You have to be pretty fit or have good stamina!
Leshan is stunning if only for the buddha.
The main advantage of course is that you get to eat sichuan food all day everyday- it is sooo good and sooo cheap!
Not the best photos- but the rest are on another machine...

[BenderBends]

looks beautiful....


and sorry...still a lil confused.
so the panda reserve is not at emei shan, correct? if not...then do you have town name? and how far is emei shan from chengdu?

[BenderBends]

nevermind...just found some info online....thanks though

but geez...the flight are a bit much to go to chengdu, no?

[Lammarite]

Basically you're looking at a triangle. The panda reserve we went to was just out side Chengdu, about an hour's drive. We did it as 3/4 day trip.
Leshan we drove down in the morning and came back in the evening- it's about 2-3 hours one way. In hindsight we should have styed in Leshan overnight to go to Emai Shan but as it was we left early the next day for another 3 hour drive. On getting to the foot we started walking and only got to the monastery at twilight (the one we wanted to stay in, lower down, was being refurbished!). The next day we set off to finish the climb pretty early and were back down at the foot (we took a bus down) and booked into the Teddy Bear lodge (!) in time for a slap-up sichuan BBQ and copious amounts of beer!
The next morning we flew back to HK.
We knew we didn't have much time so when we went to Leshan and Emei Shan we took a private car split 4 ways so wasn't too expensive. The local buses are pretty good but do take longer. We stayed in a lodge in Chengdu with lots of other travellers so could have got together with them I guess.