China...as promised
Hi again all.
Apologies first of all for the lack of blogging about our trip in the last few weeks. To be fair though China didn't allow us to update it in the country. Better late than never though.
So, we arrived in Beijing from Irkutsk on a Friday morning, at about 5.30am. Of course we thought the city would be dead until later on...but no. Our hostel (Leo Hostel 2 - excellent) was on a very lively little hutong and business was brisk even at that time. We breakfasted on delicious dumplings at about 6am. We are all dumpling-ed out now, but it was the best food in the world at the time.
The early morning colour was a sign of what was to come. Beijing is dirty, smelly, lively, colourful, funny, and a great place to visit. It has an energy that hits you.
It took us a few days to get into the haggling, but once we started we loved it. We probably all agree that Sammy was the expert of the group, even managing to sell a CD himself at one point!
We checked out all the "must sees" of course. The Great Wall was probably my favourite. We got a bus there, and met a Canadian - Fred - on the way. Instead of choosing the cable car route to get up to the wall we chose to walk up the steps...big mistake. However, the wall was pretty great. We also saw other things - Chairman Mao's body, the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. I'd tell you about it, but I'm not allowed....(sorry for the crap joke!)
After 5 days we set off for Shanghai. We had left it too late to get hard sleepers on the overnight train, so we got hard seats. How bad can it be we thought? Quite bad it turns out! We were a source of fascination for the Chinese people on the train. It was as bad as the Dublin - Sligo train, possibly worse, but we had to try and sleep on it as well.
We arrived in Shanghai a little worse for wear, but soon perked up. Shanghai is more Western than Beijing, much cleaner and with less spitting. We stayed in a great hostel where we met some more lovely people. (Hello Tyler & co.!)
I attended my first ever foam party in Shanghai, and went around for the next two days with damp money from being in my pocket.
Shanghai was more about having fun than seeing attractions, so we did. After five days however we were off to Japan by boat. More on this later as I have to go meet the guys for a few drinks on Khao San Rd. (I hope you're jealous!)
Stay well, and I promise to update you in a more organised and informative way soon!
Apologies first of all for the lack of blogging about our trip in the last few weeks. To be fair though China didn't allow us to update it in the country. Better late than never though.
So, we arrived in Beijing from Irkutsk on a Friday morning, at about 5.30am. Of course we thought the city would be dead until later on...but no. Our hostel (Leo Hostel 2 - excellent) was on a very lively little hutong and business was brisk even at that time. We breakfasted on delicious dumplings at about 6am. We are all dumpling-ed out now, but it was the best food in the world at the time.
The early morning colour was a sign of what was to come. Beijing is dirty, smelly, lively, colourful, funny, and a great place to visit. It has an energy that hits you.
It took us a few days to get into the haggling, but once we started we loved it. We probably all agree that Sammy was the expert of the group, even managing to sell a CD himself at one point!
We checked out all the "must sees" of course. The Great Wall was probably my favourite. We got a bus there, and met a Canadian - Fred - on the way. Instead of choosing the cable car route to get up to the wall we chose to walk up the steps...big mistake. However, the wall was pretty great. We also saw other things - Chairman Mao's body, the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. I'd tell you about it, but I'm not allowed....(sorry for the crap joke!)
After 5 days we set off for Shanghai. We had left it too late to get hard sleepers on the overnight train, so we got hard seats. How bad can it be we thought? Quite bad it turns out! We were a source of fascination for the Chinese people on the train. It was as bad as the Dublin - Sligo train, possibly worse, but we had to try and sleep on it as well.
We arrived in Shanghai a little worse for wear, but soon perked up. Shanghai is more Western than Beijing, much cleaner and with less spitting. We stayed in a great hostel where we met some more lovely people. (Hello Tyler & co.!)
I attended my first ever foam party in Shanghai, and went around for the next two days with damp money from being in my pocket.
Shanghai was more about having fun than seeing attractions, so we did. After five days however we were off to Japan by boat. More on this later as I have to go meet the guys for a few drinks on Khao San Rd. (I hope you're jealous!)
Stay well, and I promise to update you in a more organised and informative way soon!
posted by Lollipop at 11:56 AM
2 Comments:
The People demand pictures!
Well, I do. Preferrably cheesy "here we are at the Great Wall" shots, and possibly some pictures of dumplings.
on the way!
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