Well, the last day in Chengdu has arrived.

We were supposed to be on the bus and out of here to Songpan today but the bus station we needed to go to get tickets was way over in the north western side of the city and would have been closed last night after returning from Qingcheng Shan. This morning was designated as a sleep in morning. I took it on board and woke just after 10:30am.

Not a bad effort I must say.

So, for those wanting to head to Songpan after Chengdu you'll need to head to the Chadianzi Bus Station way out in the Jinnin District. Just down from the Soma Hostel on the road running along the river we caught Bus No: 82. It was a great ride. It went back over the river and slowly made its way out north west. It took about forty five minutes to get there. On the way we watched in wonder at the Chinese traffic chaos all around us.

I don't know how but it just seems to work!

There are only three buses heading to Songpan a day. There is the 6:30, 7:00 or the 7:30 and the trip is supposed to take around seven hours. After grabbing our 75 Yuan tickets for 7:30 tomorrow morning we headed back out to grab Bus No: 82. On the way to the bus station we decided to grab the bus ten minutes back into the city and walk the rest of the way, or maybe i decided to and poor Judy agreed (much to her regret now at 10:10pm).

At fifteen minutes we jumped off and found a little eatery to eat brunch. The food was awesome and the price nearing a quater of what we pay in the city for Chinese food. Can't give the name of the place as i have no idea how to read Chinese. Anyhow, it was near a shoe shop called 'Mexican'.

After brunch we began zig zagging our way back into the heart of the city. We wound our way through the outta cities little back streets, visited some shoddy open air market places and said our normal quota of 1 billion hellos for the day. The walk took us through the Qingyang District and we ended up at Huanghua Brook Park that runs between the 2nd and 1st Ring Roads. From the 1st ring road we followed the river back to the big ship and headed home for a rest before heading to The Highfly Pizza Bar. Here I had Set Menu 2.

MMMMmmm, fruit salad, spag bol and a cool lemon tea.

For those of you whom have a spare day, don't know what to do with their day or just can't decide, in big cities I started the 'Catch the bus for ten to fifteen minutes and get off' thing in Japan six years ago. It's the best way possible to get to know a city and find it's pokey little streets and old sections that no one else really knows about.

Do it, you'll be supprised at what you find.

Beers N Noodles to ya...shane