For Easter we were lucky that they fell at the same time as mid term exams. We headed to Jishou in western Hunan to meet up with the American friends we met in Chengdu during the winter holidays.

We arrived in Jishou some 28 hours after leaving Qingtian to be met by Judy. Jishou is much bigger than Qingtian but still just as dirty and like most Chinese towns/cities. We were taken to a BB restaurant the first night where we met some new and old friends. Very interesting the difference in cooking from one province to the next. In Zhejiang a BBQ is cooked over coal and the food is all on sticks like kebabs. In Hunan it was cooked in a really big fry pan and the meet was in quite big slices.

The next morning was Easter Sunday and Mum has sent us some eggs so we scattered them around Judy's apartment where everyone was meeting for brunch. Everyone had received a care package of some description and when shared we had a brunch fit for kings.

Jishou is set around mountains and Judy took us to a small touristy town called Feng Huang. It was a really lovely market town - set up for tourists on a river. We meandered through old streets and in and out of old buildings which were people's homes, shops and hostels.

Near Jishou is Zhang Jia Jie, a "world famous" national park. We went up there and met Bev a crazy Welsh english teacher. She loves a beer and finally I felt at home. She is the first female I've met here who just wants to sit back have a beer and enjoy herself. We had a great time, downed a few beers and then went to her class to see how college students are taught. Let's just say the class size is manageable and they are interested in learning.

Trev and I headed to the National Park the next day. We had looked in the guide book and picked a peak we wanted to climb, there are heaps. We headed to the bus stop and spoke in our broken Chinese and were understood. There were heaps of tourist groups but we were taken to a regular bus. 2 hours later after we had been through lots of interesting towns, swerved and honked at too many dogs to count we were thrown out of the bus and with a point in the general direction and a friendly wave goodbye we were left. Did I mention the bus had driven in a river!

Anyway we were picked up by some little bus and driven to the bottom of a mountain. We asked what the name of it was and it wasn't after all the peak we wanted to climb but hey we could with try to find it and miss out altogether or climb this one. It looked interesting enough and the scenery was green and nice. We climbed!

It was absolutely fantastic, we did not see anyone as we spent two hours getting to the top of peak called "One step from heaven". To be able to say that in China is rare but this was fantastic, the view was something similiar to the blue mountains everything had a blue tinge to it which wasn't pollution. There weren't any chinese tour groups going by with everyone in red hats and the leader blowing their whistle in ear shattering trills. It was just us.

Our return trip to Zhang Jia Jie and Bev was looking like we had made a mistake by not going on a tour. It seems the bus we were on did not normally take the route it had to drop us off. That was a special service and might explain the trip in the river. We were asking anyone driving these very small people movers if they could give us a lift back. They were saying "No" But really meant "not yet". When we thought we were really in some trouble a man yells out to us and away we go. We thought we'd be taken to the closest village and then catch a bus back but it turns out he took us all the way back to just near Bev's place. Luck was on our side.

That night however I had used all my luck up. Coming home I fell in a manhole. There are alarming statistics as to how many man hole lids are stolen and how mnay foreigners die falling manholes in China. I just want to say if it weren't for Bev counselling me in the true Welsh way, ripping the piss out of me and laughing while I am covered in rat poop and trees I would have cried so much and Trev would have hated me.