Europe never looked like this!

Back home, we're very pleased to be basking in the warmth of another glorious southern hemisphere summer. Despite having some wet days since getting home the temperature feels fabulous after we endured  a few cool days mainly in Germany and China.

Australians at play

Meanwhile frigid temperatures have gripped Europe in the last week, with the mercury reaching as low as -35°C. It's very hard to comprehend that we were exploring these places just a few months ago.

San Giobbe, Venice

Buckingham Palace, London

Colosseum, Rome

Circus Maximus, Rome

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Berlin

Oxford Canal

Nostalgic Tramway, Istanbul

Rhine River, Germany

Amsterdam

Thailand

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (Author of The Secret Garden)

Finally we've made it to Thailand. On day 185 we flew out of Shanghai aboard a Thai Airways A330 - the most comfortable flight of the entire trip. There was so much room between the seats we were almost convinced that we'd been upgraded to business class!

The agenda for our final destination was simple:

• shopping, and
• resting / reflecting

before returning home then heading back to work.

Other than a few days in Bangkok we relaxed and enjoyed the quiet countryside and the excellent weather at a bungalow resort just outside Chaing Mai called Secret Garden.

The photos and captions below should provide just a taste of the delights of Thailand.

Secret Garden Resort

Secret Garden Resort - Kitchen and outdoor dining area

Chaing Mai rice paddies - traditional and modern living

Thai village temple

Rice paddie fields

Heading home for dinner

Banana plantation

Sunset over the rice paddies

Helen learning to speak elephant

Mahout on his iPhone

Heading back for a bath

New friends

Snack time first

Bath time

All clean (including behind the ears)

Umbrella festival in Bor Sang

Bor Sang festival decorations

Umbrella festival parade in Bor Sang

Chatuchak Market in Bangkok

MBK Shopping Centre - Bangkok

Pantip Plaza - IT Shopping Centre

Thai cooking class with Boom

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China (including Hong Kong)

The former British colony Hong Kong was a definite must do on this adventure and we were treated to an amazing Christmas lightshow from our accommodation in Whampoa Garden, Kowloon.

We tried to catch the Peak Tram (a funicular railway) which carries tourists from Central district to Victoria Peak for fantastic views over the harbour and skyscrapers of Hong Kong) but it was far too busy (Christmas holidays) so we took the bus instead.

Hong Kong from Victoria Peak (looking west towards Kowloon) 

The weather was considerably colder as we travelled west to Guilin on the Chinese mainland. Here we treked up the mountain to the Longsheng rice terraces. Not much happens in the rice paddies during winter so we've added some video of the action in spring. Despite the fog we could appreciate how special these 500 year old Ming Dynasty terraced fields are.

Longsheng rice terraces in winter

Longsheng rice terraces - ploughing

Longsheng rice terraces

The next morning we took a Li River Cruise to Yangshuo. The river winds through some truly spectacular limestone formations and beautiful river valley scenery. The slow boat trip takes a little longer in winter as the water levels are so low that the flat bottomed boats scrape on the gravel river bed.

Boat cruises from Guilin to Yangshuo through karst hills

 Li River cruising

 Fresh seafood delivery

Li River fishing family

The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, considered the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century were discovered by a group of peasants while digging for a well near Xian in 1974.

Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses

Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had begun to work for his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. The life size terracotta figures of warriors and horses arranged in battle formations are replicas of what the imperial guard looked like at that time.

Restored Terra Cotta Warriors

The restored City Wall of Xian is the world's largest city wall. It is 12m high, 18m wide is its bottom, 15m wide on the top and 13.7km long. Despite the cold weather (it was late afternoon by the time we returned from visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors), we took a stroll along a section of this very impressive structure.

Ming Dynasty era city wall constructed in 1370

Compared to Guilin and Xian, we found Shanghai to be a very busy, modern and commercial city. It is likely that many of the recent improvements we saw resulted from preparation for the 2010 World Expo held May 1 to Oct 31, 2010.

Nanpu Bridge and freeway approaches crossing the Huangpu River

The freeway and metro systems were first-class but were not a patch on the Shanghai to Pudong Airport Transrapid magnetic levitation train. The Maglev Train is technically a demonstration line and is the first commercially operated high-speed magnetic levitation line in the world.

Shanghai to Pudong Airport Transrapid magnetic levitation train

The port city of Shanghai , is one of the largest cultural centres of China.and is also one of the bustling centers for industry and commerce. Our tour guide took us to the beautiful centuries old Yuyuan Garden. Yuyuan Garden is a famous classical Chinese garden located near the centre of  Shanghai that was finished in 1577 (the Ming Dynasty).

Yuyuan Chinese Gardens

The sparkling lights of the tall buildings make the city night incredibly gorgeous. We were particularly taken by the Oriental Pearl Tower in Pudong opposite the Bund. This tower is primarily a TV transmission tower however the tower also has fifteen observatory levels and a 20-room hotel called the Space Hotel between the two large spheres.

Pudong District (east bank of the Huangpu River)

Oriental Pearl Tower, Pudong

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