The Peace Hotel On The Bund, Shanghai

The Peace Hotel, The Bund, Shanghai, China

One of the great joys of travel can be the hotels and 'hotels' you stay in - whether it's a yurt in in Huahouta in Inner Mongolia ...

... the Maharajah of Jaipur's Palace in India ...

... or the back-packer Sun Hotel ...

... with its resident monkeys ...

... and peerless view over the Ganges and its ghats ...

... at extraordinary Varanassi ...

I lived for a year in China - in 1988, just before the Tiananmen Square incident - and had another of those magic hotel experiences at the famed Peace Hotel on the Shanghai Bund alongside the Huangpu River ...



Completed in 1929 as the exclusive expatriate mens' club, the then Sassoon House was in a severe Art Deco style, but with lavish interiors ...

The Ballroom (During Restored)

A Passage Way and Stairs (During Restored)

... its passage ways and rooms encrusted with now priceless Lalique glass artwork. still in evidence when was stayed there.

There have of course been changes since the late '80s, not the least of which the transformation of the paddy fields on the opposite side of the river, viewable in 1988 from the second floor dining room, into the now bustling metropolis of Pudong ...

But what's in fact really amazing about this establishment is its quirky and anecdotal history.

In 1949, with bullets flying round the streets outside the hotel, a desperate refugee from the mayhem banged admittance on the front door, only to be asked by those leaning over from an upper balcony:

But are you a member sir?

The reply No! led to a hastily convened club committee meeting to advice on the complex question of temporary membership. It's not recorded whether the motion was passed or otherwise!

A myriad of delicious memories now come flooding back.

A hotel employee telling me that in the 1920s at the racecourse nearby there was a sign that read 'No dogs or Chinese allowed'.

And another that Noel Coward finished 'Private Lives' in the hotel.

But in fact my most enduring recollection is of the jazz band that had been performing in the basement since the 1930s ...

... with its then trumpet player a dead ringer of the Great Helmsman, Mao Zedong - a totally surreal experience at 3am!

So, at least for me, my accommodation can be a far greater part of the travel experience than is conventionally accepted!

Have you guys had any such out-of-body hotel experiences?

Coronations And Things In The Dragon Kingdom

Decided to post this one again cos I can now do extra large images - and these photographs really deserve the best format.

Over the past five years, I've rather self-indulgently done more than a ton of posts on places I've been.

And I've particularly enjoyed putting together my journeyings to remote and/or perhaps, for me, exotic places - like Mongolia, Laos, Egypt, India, Varanassi and Nepal and The Philippines.

As you do, I was roaming round in cyber space this morning and happened on images of the 2008 coronation of King Jigme Khesar Namgyl Wangchuck ...

... in Himalayan-bordering Bhutan ...

... and it occurred to me to post on somewhere I haven't been but would love to visit.

The kingdom came into being in the C17 from a number of warring states, under the leadership of Tibetan lama and military leader, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. The lama had fled from religious persecution in Tibet and constructed a Bhutanese identity. In a way, a bit like Italy's Risorgimento (Unification) of 1861.

An absolute monarchy, the country had its first democratic elections in 2008 and has joined the UN ...

The climate ranges from subtropical in the south to sub-alpine in the north ...

... already I more than suspect that this post is going to be a tad too 'National Geographic-ish'!

But in my defence, I would dare anyone to make the following set of coronation images look other than they came from that magazine ...

Ladies of Bhutanese royal family before the coronation

Some of the international visitors

And then challenge anyone to cast the next shots in a less than Shangri La-ish manner ...

Takeshang Gompa, Tiger's Nest Monastery

Haa Valley

Tashichoedzong, Thimphu, seat of the Bhutanese government from 1952

Gangkhar Puensum from Ura La, Bhutan

To this absolute riot of pageantry and colour and to this grand panorama of pristine natural beauty, throw in the snow leopard or two ...

... and maybe National Geographic got it right all along!!!

Magical Dali in Far Western China

A few years back, I was wandering round far western China, as you do, and I happened across the ancient local capital of Dali. In fact the city was the centre of both the Bai kingdom of Nanzhao (8th and 9th centuries) and the Kingdom of Dali (937-1253).

The approach by boat across Erhai lake past an island temple heralded something special ...

So when I landed ...

... I headed off in the very highest spirits to the city gate ...

... and, almost a daze, just wandered round the narrow streets ...

... crowded with old buildings ...

... and shops ...

When I poked my nose into this alley way leading to the courtyard of a home, the inhabitants invited me in for tea - the magic continued to be woven!

I'd heard there was a temple complex in the nearby hills ...

... and when I arrived all was shrouded in mist ...

... the magic was not letting up!

Walking back down to Dali, I by chance wandered into the rarest temple of all in the Peoples' Republic - one still functioning for religious observance ...

... and replete with resident monks ...

... who had just in fact completed their daily laundry.

The magic was still in top gear!

Back in town, I was feeling more than a bit fazed. A couple of travellers began chatting to me and everything cleared quite quickly - I realised I hadn't spoken at any length for a couple of weeks and that this had led to the disorientation.

Having perked up, my new friends and I followed this group of women ...

... to what turned out to be the local market day ...

One of by new companions couldn't resist this trio of older men just calmly watching life go by ...

As you'll have noticed, everyone but everyone is dressed in traditional clothing.

The people in this region belong to one of China's (92) minority groups - and dress as they do to demonstrate themselves as separate and different from the Han majority.

A bit of reading back in Australia confirmed the development of a movement in the area for local autonomy.