Last day in Beijing - yippee! We've seen some great sights and have experienced a different and unusual culture, but this is one city i'm not sad to leave and have no inclination to return to. I'm really not sure how this city and it's inhabitants will be able to cope with the influx of westerners for the Olympic games next year, and they are a long way off with infrastructure, amenities, language and manners. But I suppose anything is possible...
This morning we set off in a cab ($5 for a 25 minute drive) to visit the Temple of Heaven, which is more park than temple but has exceptional and unique Ming buildings. Basically it was built in 1420 for the Emperor, who came here to pray for good harvests. Again we experienced the tourists galore but it wasn't as quantified as yesterday. We also experienced the Chinese pretending to take photos of their friends/family but there camera was focused at us. And we'd turn around to find others standing behind us while someone took a photo with the tall westerners. I thought I'd get my own back and start running up behind people who were having their photos' taken. A couple of people were surprised, and once they realised what was happening they were more than happy for me to be in their shot. Others welcomed us girls with open arms. Welcome to the family Aussies!
Ok we didn't stay too long here, as you start to get sick of looking at Chinese architecture - it's all the same. So we trotted off to the Pearl Markets which is a massive warehouse of six levels, the top three being pearls and jewellery, where we did our first shopping, our first bargains of the trip. We bargained fabulous deals for silk place mats, wine holders, cushion covers, journals....a pretty funny experience because we're all good bargainers. When we were trying to bargain, we gave the price we wanted to pay the lady and she was yelling back to us "no, no, this is a killing me price! you killing me!". It was hard to bargain with a straight face. haha So we left the markets with a berry berry goot price - you kill me lady! and went down to catch our cab home. We love the cabs here!
Later Rani and I went DVD shopping while the other girls washed clothes. The washing was so much harder than it should be. For six levels of the hotel, including the capacity of housekeeping, there was a cupboard with one tiny washing machine and a drier that could only hold 4kg at a time and dry your washing in over 2 hours. Right outside the door was all the washing housekeeping needed to do for the next day. Ouch. We needed to get ready for our rickshaw ride at 4, so we thought we put in a whites wash . . . and we broke the machine so had to decanter all our whites out of the machine again, already encrusted with soap suds. It was pretty funny and we were laughing about it though. I actually had to go out and buy undies for the next few days seeing I doubt we'll see a washing machine for the most part of next week in Mongolia. The only ones I could find were beige coloured granny undies in the equivilent of a $2 shop. I even tried them on over the clothes I was wearing because I had no idea how I was going to fit into chinese womans size undies, and once the store owner realised I was actually trying them on, he obviously didnt think I should have been but didn't know how to tell me not to and was fighting with himself as to whether he should tell me not to or just turn his head. He turned his head, I bought three pairs and we were off in search of cheap dvds.
4pm was a rickshaw ride through the old city. A rickshaw for those who don't know is
a bike attached to a small carriage seat. A guy older enough to be my grandfather peddled Rani and Dom while Katie and I were looked after by a younger bloke. Lisa our tour guide was excellent. She talked openly about the one child policy and the lengths some families go to ensure that their one child is a male. We also learnt about the virtual line that runs from the north to the south of Beijing that runs through the Tianamen Square, Forbidden City, Prospect Hill, the Bell and Drum Tower and now the Olympic City. Only rich people could live on this line. We climbed the drum tower to view a 2 minute drum spectacle that meant it was 5pm. In ancient China the bell was drummed on the hour every hour during the day to tell the time, at night, the drums were beaten as it was quieter. We also learnt about the class statuses. If a family had four blue beams on their door, they were very rich. No beams meant poor. A stone drum meant the family was from a military family, a book meant scholars. Colour = rich, no colour = poor.
So after a very interesting tour, we were driven home by our rickshaw peddlers and checked our washing in the drier . . still sopping wet. Turned it on for another 2 hours and went out to dinner for a brilliant meal of snow peas, tofu, squid and leek pies. SO incredible on the taste buds. Yummo.
So now we're back from dinner and shopping and just preparing ourselves for a 530am start tomorrow morning. We're catching a 7:40 train to Ulanbaatar (Mongolia) that's meant to be about 13 hours.
Oh, and the best part of the evening has been discovering that Rani and Dom are one level up from a brothel. That's right, you read correctly, level two of our hostel is reserved for those men who wish to rent rooms by the minute. It has disco mirrored walls and funky red carpet and a big guy who pushes you out when you enter. . . nice!! Goodbye Beijing.
As we will be somewhere in the desert in Mongolia without computers, I won't be blogging again until sometime next week. Fun times ahead, and we've just heard from another traveller that's just arrived from Mongolia that she had the time of her life at the Ger camp - horseriding, archery, bon fires, vodka rituals around the bon fire...I can't wait.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Beijing - Thursday 03 May
Not my favourite day in Bejing. We left our hostel and changed to a hotel, as we meet our tour group tonight. Although we have our own bathroom rather than a shared one, it's not the cleanest. We'll cope...it's Beijing!
We booked a tour to the Summer Palace which is an immense park which was once a playground for the imperial court. Royalty came here to edlude the summer heat that roasted the Forbidden City. Empress Dowager Cixi rebuilt the park in 1888 with money supposedly intended for the creation of a modern navy. After at least a 40 minute drive to the Summer Palace amongst public holiday tourists taking up every inch of the road, and the scorching heat, I was well and truely ready to frollic in imperial garden glory. Oh how wrong could I be. There were thousands upon thousands upon thousands upon thousands of Chinese tourists, with a couple of German and Scandinavians and 4 tall Aussies thrown in for good measure. This was the first day of Beijing where I couldn't cope, and quickly decided I was going to walk and bustle like a local - push your way through the crowd and not apologise for brushing or hitting anyone in your path. No-one even blinks an eye at this rudeness, and once I started I got the hang of it very quickly. Rani and Kt were interested in seeing everything and taking lots of photos, but I felt like murdering someone so Dom and I quickly escaped to an area with a few less tourists. We met the girls about an hour later, found our coach and got the hell out of there. Not happy Jan!
We got dropped home and the other girls went to do more sightseeing, but I was over it so I had some free time before meeting up with the other 10 people we are to share the next 2 or so weeks with on tour. Most seemed nice and well travelled but we will begin the introductions tomorrow morning at 7am when we leave for Mongolia.
In the evening we went for yet another delicious dinner. The food here has been sensational and obviously nothing like the Chinese food available back home. Again we washed it down with chinese beer (I found out the name - Tsing Tao - which I think you can get at home) and were the main attraction of the night, again being the only westerners in the restaurant. The waitresses loved serving us, and laughed at our sign language trying to ask for certain things. The guy next to us who was smoking away certainly didn't have any problem understanding my sign language that was telling him to put the cigarette out because it was repulsive to sit next to in a restaurant. He was very obliging, but really I gave him no choice. And he knew I had back up!
We booked a tour to the Summer Palace which is an immense park which was once a playground for the imperial court. Royalty came here to edlude the summer heat that roasted the Forbidden City. Empress Dowager Cixi rebuilt the park in 1888 with money supposedly intended for the creation of a modern navy. After at least a 40 minute drive to the Summer Palace amongst public holiday tourists taking up every inch of the road, and the scorching heat, I was well and truely ready to frollic in imperial garden glory. Oh how wrong could I be. There were thousands upon thousands upon thousands upon thousands of Chinese tourists, with a couple of German and Scandinavians and 4 tall Aussies thrown in for good measure. This was the first day of Beijing where I couldn't cope, and quickly decided I was going to walk and bustle like a local - push your way through the crowd and not apologise for brushing or hitting anyone in your path. No-one even blinks an eye at this rudeness, and once I started I got the hang of it very quickly. Rani and Kt were interested in seeing everything and taking lots of photos, but I felt like murdering someone so Dom and I quickly escaped to an area with a few less tourists. We met the girls about an hour later, found our coach and got the hell out of there. Not happy Jan!
We got dropped home and the other girls went to do more sightseeing, but I was over it so I had some free time before meeting up with the other 10 people we are to share the next 2 or so weeks with on tour. Most seemed nice and well travelled but we will begin the introductions tomorrow morning at 7am when we leave for Mongolia.
In the evening we went for yet another delicious dinner. The food here has been sensational and obviously nothing like the Chinese food available back home. Again we washed it down with chinese beer (I found out the name - Tsing Tao - which I think you can get at home) and were the main attraction of the night, again being the only westerners in the restaurant. The waitresses loved serving us, and laughed at our sign language trying to ask for certain things. The guy next to us who was smoking away certainly didn't have any problem understanding my sign language that was telling him to put the cigarette out because it was repulsive to sit next to in a restaurant. He was very obliging, but really I gave him no choice. And he knew I had back up!
Beijing - Wednesday 02 May
Today was the most exciting day for me - trekking the Great Wall of China! We had booked an all day tour which collected us from the hostel at 10am. We had a few others to pick up along the way, then it took around 2 hours to reach the wall. For anyone planning on doing a tour, I would recommend you go to the Mutianyu section because it's a less commercial experience and is equipped with a cable car (my heart was racing the whole way up) to go up the mountain to start the trek and a fantastic toboggan to come down.
One of the Ancient wonders of the world, the Great Wall stretches about 7200km and took millions of people to build (many political prisoners). The wall started in the Qin dynasty and over the course of the first 10 years of this part of the building process, an estimated 1 million people died and legend has it that the bodies of deceased workers were amond the building materials used.
So we took the 5 minute cable car ride up the mountain, me holding on to the bars tight the whole way, then started the hour or so trek down, then up and through some of the guard towers. The stairs were very small and close together, although wide, but in some areas we had to step up about half a metre to the next step. And very steep, almost but not quite vertical. Again it felt surreal to be trekking the Great Wall, something i've always dreamed of doing but only ever seen on tele or in books. We were amazed at the beauty of it, the surrounding mountains and views and we were Heroes! We took a fun ride to the bottom of the mountain on a 5 or so minute toboggan ride. Woo hoo! Our tour guide told us you are a hero when you trek the Great Wall. She told us she loved us because we were now heroe's after the trek. We waited on the bus for over half an hour because an old man on the tour hadn't returned to the group on time. The guide finally found him and when he got back he said that it was the hardest thing he'd ever done but he was so proud to have done it (apart from serving in the war perhaps??). I was so proud of him as well - imagine accomplishing a walk of the Great Wall at 70 (he looked at least 70 anyway). Go gramps, well done!
On the way home we stopped at a tea house for some delicious tea - we tried Jasmine, Luton and Lychee and they all tasted beautiful. Much better than the tea we can buy at home, but unfortunately i'm not prepared to carry tea half way around the world and home. Finally around 6pm we were dropped at Wangfujing St to experience the food stalls.
Today was the real Chinese experience. The food stalls were lined up along the street, and once again we shared our space with thousands and thousands of chinese people. Ok, so me being the food lover and travelling with three other food loving gals, you can imagine our delight when we found stall upon stall of sticks of sea and land creatures, balls of puffy goo covered in sugar, mounds of unknown creature and pots of bubbling edibles. We spotted some large starfish on a stick and had to give it a go. We bought one to share and found that it was a delicious delight, filled with delicious filling - made of what, I do not know. No sooner had Dom and Rani taken the first bite of starfish and we had a television crew surrounding us to film the experience. They were from a Beijing youth documentary channel and were delighted at our experience, asking for our opinion on the taste and continually saying they had filmed enough only to shove the camera in the face of the next one of us to take a bite. Once they had filmed enough, we moved on to the next stall where we bought three medium sized crabs on a stick, covered in spicy pasty goo. Very crunchy, not bad but not delicious. We then found puffy balls of carbohydraty delight covered in mounds of sugar and straight out of boiling hot deep fry. mmmmmm....The next delights we found but did not try were sticks of millipede, unknown bug, snake and scorpion. As daring as I would like to think I am with food, those varieties can wait.
After we'd immersed ourselves in enough weird and unusual culinary pleasure, we decided to find a restaurant for dinner. We ate the most delicious black bean and green vegetable dish and a green bean, vege and mushroom dish, again washed down with Chinese beer (i'll have to find out the name, we've paid as low as 0.80c for a 630ml bottle and it's a great thirst quencher at the end of the day).
Home for another very well earned nights sleep!
One of the Ancient wonders of the world, the Great Wall stretches about 7200km and took millions of people to build (many political prisoners). The wall started in the Qin dynasty and over the course of the first 10 years of this part of the building process, an estimated 1 million people died and legend has it that the bodies of deceased workers were amond the building materials used.
So we took the 5 minute cable car ride up the mountain, me holding on to the bars tight the whole way, then started the hour or so trek down, then up and through some of the guard towers. The stairs were very small and close together, although wide, but in some areas we had to step up about half a metre to the next step. And very steep, almost but not quite vertical. Again it felt surreal to be trekking the Great Wall, something i've always dreamed of doing but only ever seen on tele or in books. We were amazed at the beauty of it, the surrounding mountains and views and we were Heroes! We took a fun ride to the bottom of the mountain on a 5 or so minute toboggan ride. Woo hoo! Our tour guide told us you are a hero when you trek the Great Wall. She told us she loved us because we were now heroe's after the trek. We waited on the bus for over half an hour because an old man on the tour hadn't returned to the group on time. The guide finally found him and when he got back he said that it was the hardest thing he'd ever done but he was so proud to have done it (apart from serving in the war perhaps??). I was so proud of him as well - imagine accomplishing a walk of the Great Wall at 70 (he looked at least 70 anyway). Go gramps, well done!
On the way home we stopped at a tea house for some delicious tea - we tried Jasmine, Luton and Lychee and they all tasted beautiful. Much better than the tea we can buy at home, but unfortunately i'm not prepared to carry tea half way around the world and home. Finally around 6pm we were dropped at Wangfujing St to experience the food stalls.
Today was the real Chinese experience. The food stalls were lined up along the street, and once again we shared our space with thousands and thousands of chinese people. Ok, so me being the food lover and travelling with three other food loving gals, you can imagine our delight when we found stall upon stall of sticks of sea and land creatures, balls of puffy goo covered in sugar, mounds of unknown creature and pots of bubbling edibles. We spotted some large starfish on a stick and had to give it a go. We bought one to share and found that it was a delicious delight, filled with delicious filling - made of what, I do not know. No sooner had Dom and Rani taken the first bite of starfish and we had a television crew surrounding us to film the experience. They were from a Beijing youth documentary channel and were delighted at our experience, asking for our opinion on the taste and continually saying they had filmed enough only to shove the camera in the face of the next one of us to take a bite. Once they had filmed enough, we moved on to the next stall where we bought three medium sized crabs on a stick, covered in spicy pasty goo. Very crunchy, not bad but not delicious. We then found puffy balls of carbohydraty delight covered in mounds of sugar and straight out of boiling hot deep fry. mmmmmm....The next delights we found but did not try were sticks of millipede, unknown bug, snake and scorpion. As daring as I would like to think I am with food, those varieties can wait.
After we'd immersed ourselves in enough weird and unusual culinary pleasure, we decided to find a restaurant for dinner. We ate the most delicious black bean and green vegetable dish and a green bean, vege and mushroom dish, again washed down with Chinese beer (i'll have to find out the name, we've paid as low as 0.80c for a 630ml bottle and it's a great thirst quencher at the end of the day).
Home for another very well earned nights sleep!
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Beijing - Tuesday 01 May
After a long flight and a solid nights sleep for all, we set off in the morning on the first adventures of our trip. We stopped for some breakfast at a restaurant/gallery that had some very intersting arty peices, including some large glass sculptures that looked rather like large breasts pop art style - and there were many of them throughout the place. The bathroom hand basins were interesting - they were sculptures of womans butts and legs in highheels bent over and joined to the hand basin. A very funky look, and there were three of them in different bright colours.
With food in our bellies we set off in search of the Forbidden City which is the largest and best-preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. It was home to two dynasties of emperors, the Ming and the Quing, who rarely strayed from this pleasure dome, although it was off limits to everyone else (thus the name). The palace is huge and includes 800 buildings and over 9000 rooms and is under constant renovation.
On our trek to the huge main entrance of the Forbidden City we were the only 4 westerners amongst a million chinese people (this week is holiday week and apparently they are all touring). We were stared at by every one of them. I suppose a freckled brunette, a very tanned brunette, a long blonde and a redhead all of above average heights are a commodity in this city. Our foreign status became very apparent when a young chinese girl stopped Katie - the tall blonde of the group, and asked to have a photo with her. She took Katie's hand and held it while her friend snapped away. She was beaming with excitement about her photo, thanked Katie and bid her farewell - smile never leaving her face. Throughout the day, we were all stopped for photographs by at least 25 groups of chinese people. Some weren't bold enough to actually come and ask us for the photograph so they snapped away from afar. We had our backs to the main sea of people at one stage, whilst buying tickets, and when we turned around two boys were standing hugging each other in front of us while their parents took photos. We felt like Rock Stars!!
We lined up for quite a while in the scorching heat to purchase our tickets to the Forbidden City and finally found our way in to this colossal place. Before long a couple of us needed the washroom badly, but had no idea of what we'd have to deal with. We were ushered into a long makeshift outdoor area that was made of sheets of tin. On entering we were faced with having to squat over a concrete hole, that was in a long line of holes with absolutely no doors. When in Rome hey!! aarrrgghh...since then it has been a gamble as to whether every place we visit has a hole in the ground or a western toilet. Unfortunately due to the heat being over 28 degrees each day and the amount of water you have to drink to keep hydrated, there is no holding on.
Speaking of holding on, no-one expects the young children, especially the boys to hold on. It's public urinating everywhere. Disgusting! The un-toilet trained youngens wear crotchless pants...you got it...crotchless! We witnessed the first set of crotchless pants in the Palace of Preserving Harmony in the Forbidden City where a young boy stood up in the middle of a public place to urinate while his family stood in a circle around him. They all clapped when he finished. Adding to our culture shock was everyone felling the need to spit and bushman blow wherever they felt the need. And no-one has any curtousy for others - pushing, shoving and bumping into others is all acceptable. I suppose it becomes a necessity in a city the size of Belgium, holding near to 14 million people.
Anyway the Forbidden City was huge and a good introduction to Beijing. After that we went in search of some food and found a street vendor selling all sorts of meats on a stick. We decided on Octopus on a stick which they quickly fry on an open hot plate then cover in some spicy goo. Delicious. We then hiked up Prospect Hill and sat on some rocks looking out to the vast city that is Beijing. It was a nice view.
Tianamen square was our next destination which took us from the north side of the Forbidden City to the south side. It was a long hike, made even longer by bad directions and tiredness setting in. We posed for more photos along the way, dodged the bushman blows, stepped over the children urinating and finally found the grandiose slab of paving stones at the heart of Beijing. It is the symbolic centre of the Chinese universe, a modern reconception by Mao to project the enormity of the Communist Party. His giant portrait still hangs over the Gate of Heavenly Peace flanked by the slogans 'Long Live the People's Replublic of China' and 'Long Live the Unity of the Peoples of the World'.
After 12 hours of walking we made our way back to the hostel, freshened up then caught a cab to the most famous Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant for Peking Duck. Katie the vegetarian was even up for eating the Peking Duck. What an experience it was. In true Chinese style, there were millions of people everywhere and lined up waiting for an available table. Waitresses were screaming numbers down a microphone to usher the next group to a newly vacated table. Our rock star (or foreigner) status came in handy and when we asked for a table for 4 we were immediately pushed straight to the front of the line and straight in to the restaurant. We ordered duck liver salad, pork elbow, mushrooms and pinenuts, Chinese beer and a whole duck. Within 2 minutes our food was on the table and within 5 we had our own chef carving the duck in front of us. We had two waitresses who stood at the table and showed us how to compile the duck, sauce etc in either small pancakes or lettuce. The meal was absolutely delicious and the best duck i've ever eaten. The best bit was that it only cost us $60 which included the meal, drinks and the return cab ride.
The girls have been shocked by Beijing so far and pushed completely out of their comfort zones, even being seasoned travellers. I haven't been as shocked, although was expecting it to be a little cleaner.
With food in our bellies we set off in search of the Forbidden City which is the largest and best-preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. It was home to two dynasties of emperors, the Ming and the Quing, who rarely strayed from this pleasure dome, although it was off limits to everyone else (thus the name). The palace is huge and includes 800 buildings and over 9000 rooms and is under constant renovation.
On our trek to the huge main entrance of the Forbidden City we were the only 4 westerners amongst a million chinese people (this week is holiday week and apparently they are all touring). We were stared at by every one of them. I suppose a freckled brunette, a very tanned brunette, a long blonde and a redhead all of above average heights are a commodity in this city. Our foreign status became very apparent when a young chinese girl stopped Katie - the tall blonde of the group, and asked to have a photo with her. She took Katie's hand and held it while her friend snapped away. She was beaming with excitement about her photo, thanked Katie and bid her farewell - smile never leaving her face. Throughout the day, we were all stopped for photographs by at least 25 groups of chinese people. Some weren't bold enough to actually come and ask us for the photograph so they snapped away from afar. We had our backs to the main sea of people at one stage, whilst buying tickets, and when we turned around two boys were standing hugging each other in front of us while their parents took photos. We felt like Rock Stars!!
We lined up for quite a while in the scorching heat to purchase our tickets to the Forbidden City and finally found our way in to this colossal place. Before long a couple of us needed the washroom badly, but had no idea of what we'd have to deal with. We were ushered into a long makeshift outdoor area that was made of sheets of tin. On entering we were faced with having to squat over a concrete hole, that was in a long line of holes with absolutely no doors. When in Rome hey!! aarrrgghh...since then it has been a gamble as to whether every place we visit has a hole in the ground or a western toilet. Unfortunately due to the heat being over 28 degrees each day and the amount of water you have to drink to keep hydrated, there is no holding on.
Speaking of holding on, no-one expects the young children, especially the boys to hold on. It's public urinating everywhere. Disgusting! The un-toilet trained youngens wear crotchless pants...you got it...crotchless! We witnessed the first set of crotchless pants in the Palace of Preserving Harmony in the Forbidden City where a young boy stood up in the middle of a public place to urinate while his family stood in a circle around him. They all clapped when he finished. Adding to our culture shock was everyone felling the need to spit and bushman blow wherever they felt the need. And no-one has any curtousy for others - pushing, shoving and bumping into others is all acceptable. I suppose it becomes a necessity in a city the size of Belgium, holding near to 14 million people.
Anyway the Forbidden City was huge and a good introduction to Beijing. After that we went in search of some food and found a street vendor selling all sorts of meats on a stick. We decided on Octopus on a stick which they quickly fry on an open hot plate then cover in some spicy goo. Delicious. We then hiked up Prospect Hill and sat on some rocks looking out to the vast city that is Beijing. It was a nice view.
Tianamen square was our next destination which took us from the north side of the Forbidden City to the south side. It was a long hike, made even longer by bad directions and tiredness setting in. We posed for more photos along the way, dodged the bushman blows, stepped over the children urinating and finally found the grandiose slab of paving stones at the heart of Beijing. It is the symbolic centre of the Chinese universe, a modern reconception by Mao to project the enormity of the Communist Party. His giant portrait still hangs over the Gate of Heavenly Peace flanked by the slogans 'Long Live the People's Replublic of China' and 'Long Live the Unity of the Peoples of the World'.
After 12 hours of walking we made our way back to the hostel, freshened up then caught a cab to the most famous Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant for Peking Duck. Katie the vegetarian was even up for eating the Peking Duck. What an experience it was. In true Chinese style, there were millions of people everywhere and lined up waiting for an available table. Waitresses were screaming numbers down a microphone to usher the next group to a newly vacated table. Our rock star (or foreigner) status came in handy and when we asked for a table for 4 we were immediately pushed straight to the front of the line and straight in to the restaurant. We ordered duck liver salad, pork elbow, mushrooms and pinenuts, Chinese beer and a whole duck. Within 2 minutes our food was on the table and within 5 we had our own chef carving the duck in front of us. We had two waitresses who stood at the table and showed us how to compile the duck, sauce etc in either small pancakes or lettuce. The meal was absolutely delicious and the best duck i've ever eaten. The best bit was that it only cost us $60 which included the meal, drinks and the return cab ride.
The girls have been shocked by Beijing so far and pushed completely out of their comfort zones, even being seasoned travellers. I haven't been as shocked, although was expecting it to be a little cleaner.
Flight to Beijing - Monday 30 April
We left home for the airport around 7am, but on reaching
the airport unfortunately Dom realised she'd forgotten
her day pack which was holding her passport, air
tickets etc. 1 1/2 hours round trip later and she was
back at the airport. The rest of us had so much
trouble checking in due to an employee with apparently
no brains, but after 20 minutes of simple explanations
she finally issued our tickets and we were on our way.
The 11.5 hour trip to Beijing was mundane and included
movie after movie and not enough food. It didn't
matter how much I ate, I remained hungry the entire
trip and even got yelled at by a mean flight attendant
when I tried to take a second apple. Dom and Kt were unfortunately seated about 7 aisles away from Rani and I but we met up for lots of chats. Dom and Kt unfortunately had to witness the couple seated in front of them - a blonde 50 year old get progressively drunk and throw herself at the old guy seated next to her so coming and talking to us was there escape from the situation.
At one stage an old guy decided to join our conversation and was asking us all what we did for a living. I thought I'd return the question, only I asked him what he 'used' to do, thinking he was at least 100 years old! Oops...he laughed and said he was 'still' a doctor...you can imagine my embarrassment. Note to one's self: never assume age.
Our flight circled Beijing for about half an hour before we landed due to a storm which we were lucky enough to watch above the clouds. The lightning was amazing.
We finally landed in Beijing around 8.30pm and got through customs, then managed to throw ourselves into a cab with a non-english speaking driver. I tried my chinese 'hello' out on him and he laughed and corrected me. I wasn't far off though. For the half an hour trip in the pouring rain, on the wrong side of the road and amongst the most manick traffic i've ever been in, he taught us a few chinese words and we taught him a couple of english ones. It was a laugh. We found our hostel and went straight to bed, all completely buggered after a huge day.
the airport unfortunately Dom realised she'd forgotten
her day pack which was holding her passport, air
tickets etc. 1 1/2 hours round trip later and she was
back at the airport. The rest of us had so much
trouble checking in due to an employee with apparently
no brains, but after 20 minutes of simple explanations
she finally issued our tickets and we were on our way.
The 11.5 hour trip to Beijing was mundane and included
movie after movie and not enough food. It didn't
matter how much I ate, I remained hungry the entire
trip and even got yelled at by a mean flight attendant
when I tried to take a second apple. Dom and Kt were unfortunately seated about 7 aisles away from Rani and I but we met up for lots of chats. Dom and Kt unfortunately had to witness the couple seated in front of them - a blonde 50 year old get progressively drunk and throw herself at the old guy seated next to her so coming and talking to us was there escape from the situation.
At one stage an old guy decided to join our conversation and was asking us all what we did for a living. I thought I'd return the question, only I asked him what he 'used' to do, thinking he was at least 100 years old! Oops...he laughed and said he was 'still' a doctor...you can imagine my embarrassment. Note to one's self: never assume age.
Our flight circled Beijing for about half an hour before we landed due to a storm which we were lucky enough to watch above the clouds. The lightning was amazing.
We finally landed in Beijing around 8.30pm and got through customs, then managed to throw ourselves into a cab with a non-english speaking driver. I tried my chinese 'hello' out on him and he laughed and corrected me. I wasn't far off though. For the half an hour trip in the pouring rain, on the wrong side of the road and amongst the most manick traffic i've ever been in, he taught us a few chinese words and we taught him a couple of english ones. It was a laugh. We found our hostel and went straight to bed, all completely buggered after a huge day.
Sydney
Sydney was a whirlwind of a weekend, starting when Dom
collected me from the airport after a bit of a nap in
the car, due to my flight being delayed. We went back
to her gorgeous house in Mosman, overlooking Mosman
Bay for catch up goss, relaxation and food.
Later Dom took me to meet the two other girls Katie and
Rani for dinner to celebrate their 27th birthdays, one
on Friday and one on Saturday. Dom surprised the
three of us with very thoughtful birthday presents,
which included some great necessities for our travels
- small torch (lucky I didn't bring the head torch
Pete, although the girls thought that would have been
a benefit to bring along), travel towel, travel
cutlery, tinned tuna, vegemite, travel mugs, cup o soup...and the
list goes on.
We went to a great Italian restaurant in Cockle Bay on
Darling Harbour, where we ate the most delicious
Octopus dish - so good we had to order more. After a
few bottles of wine we moved on to the bar, Pier 26,
for more wine and more friends. We met plenty of
people that night, have many laughs, many bottles of
wine and found ourselves in a cab home many hours after midnight.
On Sunday, after peeling myself out of bed with a very
sore head, I headed back to Darling Harbour for a
jetboat cruise around the harbour and beyond. It was
a great ride and about half way through the driver
took off and ripped up the water. We all got soaked
but had an awesome, thrilling ride. Later I met Kt for
food, then the other girls and a few others for a
cocktail catamaran cruise, which was another birthday
present for the girls. It was a relaxing cruise with
fantastic views of the opera house and bridge, but
no-one was in the mood for too many cocktails after
our previous nights effort. Home for some tv, and I
was asleep very early.
collected me from the airport after a bit of a nap in
the car, due to my flight being delayed. We went back
to her gorgeous house in Mosman, overlooking Mosman
Bay for catch up goss, relaxation and food.
Later Dom took me to meet the two other girls Katie and
Rani for dinner to celebrate their 27th birthdays, one
on Friday and one on Saturday. Dom surprised the
three of us with very thoughtful birthday presents,
which included some great necessities for our travels
- small torch (lucky I didn't bring the head torch
Pete, although the girls thought that would have been
a benefit to bring along), travel towel, travel
cutlery, tinned tuna, vegemite, travel mugs, cup o soup...and the
list goes on.
We went to a great Italian restaurant in Cockle Bay on
Darling Harbour, where we ate the most delicious
Octopus dish - so good we had to order more. After a
few bottles of wine we moved on to the bar, Pier 26,
for more wine and more friends. We met plenty of
people that night, have many laughs, many bottles of
wine and found ourselves in a cab home many hours after midnight.
On Sunday, after peeling myself out of bed with a very
sore head, I headed back to Darling Harbour for a
jetboat cruise around the harbour and beyond. It was
a great ride and about half way through the driver
took off and ripped up the water. We all got soaked
but had an awesome, thrilling ride. Later I met Kt for
food, then the other girls and a few others for a
cocktail catamaran cruise, which was another birthday
present for the girls. It was a relaxing cruise with
fantastic views of the opera house and bridge, but
no-one was in the mood for too many cocktails after
our previous nights effort. Home for some tv, and I
was asleep very early.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Letting the Kat out of the bag....
Well it's been a long time coming, but it's finally time to get this show on the road and embark on another overseas adventure. Only 4 sleeps to go, and then it's up...up and away! I'm tripping off with my Sydney girls Dom, Katie and Rani, whom I met in 2003. We all worked together in France, travelled together, ripped up many a dance floor in many a country....and it's well and truely time to do it again!
So here's the plan:
I will fly to Sydney to spend the weekend with the girls in their home city, then we are embarking on the historic Trans-Siberian Railway for just over three weeks from Beijing to St Petersburg, then fly to Helsinki for a couple of nights before splitting to go our own ways - me to Italy for one week, Dom to Sydney, Rani to UK and Katie to Holland.
A little info:
The Trans-Siberian Railway was constructed over a period of 15 years from 1891 and was built to help transport people and goods around the country, as travel throughout the year was fraught with many obstacles such as frozen roads and overcrowded rivers. It is divided into three main railways:- The Trans-Siberian (From Vladivostok on the East to Moscow on the West)- The Trans-Manchurian (Which splits from the Trans-Siberian at Tarskaya) and- The Trans-Mongolian (Which splits the T-S at Ulan Ude and passes through Mongolia on it's way to Beijing).
Vodka Train are the poor souls who have kindly offered to guide us - if only they read our last travel journals!
Here's some really cool facts, courtesy of Wikipedia
- The lower the train number the fewer stops it makes and therefore the faster the journey.
- The Trans-Siberian Railway is the theme for the 1900 Trans-Siberian Railway Fabergé egg.
- The Trans-Siberian Railway is longer than both the Great Wall of China and US Route 66.
So here's the plan:
I will fly to Sydney to spend the weekend with the girls in their home city, then we are embarking on the historic Trans-Siberian Railway for just over three weeks from Beijing to St Petersburg, then fly to Helsinki for a couple of nights before splitting to go our own ways - me to Italy for one week, Dom to Sydney, Rani to UK and Katie to Holland.
A little info:
The Trans-Siberian Railway was constructed over a period of 15 years from 1891 and was built to help transport people and goods around the country, as travel throughout the year was fraught with many obstacles such as frozen roads and overcrowded rivers. It is divided into three main railways:- The Trans-Siberian (From Vladivostok on the East to Moscow on the West)- The Trans-Manchurian (Which splits from the Trans-Siberian at Tarskaya) and- The Trans-Mongolian (Which splits the T-S at Ulan Ude and passes through Mongolia on it's way to Beijing).
Vodka Train are the poor souls who have kindly offered to guide us - if only they read our last travel journals!
Here's some really cool facts, courtesy of Wikipedia
- The lower the train number the fewer stops it makes and therefore the faster the journey.
- The Trans-Siberian Railway is the theme for the 1900 Trans-Siberian Railway Fabergé egg.
- The Trans-Siberian Railway is longer than both the Great Wall of China and US Route 66.
My Itinerary:
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