We have been in Sichuan. The weather has been poor but we have been out in the countryside at Leshan and Emei visiting the monkeys. They were very cheeky and one medium size one made a leap for Sarahs head which brought on screams while I tried desperately to take photos!! Eventually it jumped off as an old lady threatened it withh a stick. These ladies sell 'monkey sticks' and have somehow perfected a Johnny Vegas impression so they just shout 'munkey' at you all the way up the mountain.

Tibetan Maccacs, quite big and aggressive and partial to cupcakes. Emei was misty though and the views from the top of the 3000m sacred mountain beyond poor. Visibility was around 2-3m! The Chinese have lined every inch of the mountain with shops and restaurants but every now and again you got a glimpse of the jungle as it should be.

The buddah at Leshan was, well, big. And even surrounded by spitting tourists was impressive. A very old man gave us a lift in his rickshaw and just as we started to wonder how he'd get us up the hill, he whistled to his mate on a moped who gave chase, placed his foot on the back of the bike and pushed us up to the top so the old man couldd freewheel down...