9 million bicycles in Beijing!!
Trip Start
Sep 08, 2009
1
12
28
Trip End
Ongoing
Beijing, China
Monday, October 12, 2009
Thurs 8th Oct
We arrived safe & sound after a long journey! when we got to the airport instead of getting a taxi to the hostel (we had pre-booked,yes very organised for once) we decided to try out the subway/metro which worked out really easy & cheap! we got to the hostel in the evening & decided to chillout,so we just got something to eat, went for a walk to checkthe place out & on the way back had a few games of pool,some beer & coke! by the time we got back we were wrecked, broc headed for a well shower, while I went & updated the kathmandu blog. I was gone awhile & when I got back up to the room & knocked to get in, the was no sign of Broc! kept knockin for awhile, until I started to listen carefully & could hear loud snoring over the tv. So I went down to reception thinking she'd give me a spare key, but no, she came up with me to open the door
Nothing like a nice cup of Tea!!!
. The whole way up the stairs all I could think about was broc flat out asleep drip drying (after his shower) & when she opened the door all she would see is broc ass in full view! yes this is exactly what happened, could have killed him, but was well funny!!Fri 9th Oct
Next morning/afternoon (had a nice sleep in) when we went for breakfast the same girl was working & kept looking at Broc strangely!! Hehe! after breakfast we headed for the 'Forbidden City'! It was really good,but was like a maze inside & found it really hard to get around! Broc was mad to go & see the 'Hall of Clocks',but we couldn't find it for ages & eventually found it at 4.05pm, but it had just closed at 4pm! Sickened! After the Forbidden City, we decided we head to an acrobats show! Got over there,got the tickets & headed for something to eat! the ony place nearby was a really posh hotel,so like the tinkers we hit in! Had my first experience with the chopsticks here & by god did I make some mess! afterwards,we headed to the show,got some snacks (course broc got beer-out of a vending machine) & settled in! The show was amazing,highlight of the trip so far! the stuff the do is class! it worries me how they first found out they could do this stuff!! they even managed to fit 12 on one bike, crazy stuff!! well worth the visit
Rollerskates prohibited!!
! When we got back to the hostel, we met a girl Lisa from Meath & her Kiwi boyfriend who recognised me from 'Showhouse'! Had a right laugh with them & ended up being a late night!Sat 10th Oct
Next morning we were supposed to get up for sunrise at Tienamien Sq, but slept in (having bad luck with these sunrise starts! we had to change hostel,because we had only booked for 2nights & it was booked up! the fella at reception left us to the hostel we are at at the mo, which is really nice & central! Once we got settled in here, we hit off looking for this underground village that we had read about in lonely planet, took us ages to find it & when we got there it was closed, permanently!! its really funny because anything Broc wants to visit its either to late or closed!! Sickened! We decided to head to Olympic Village for a look! We got there & it was still open!! Haha! I rented a pair of roller skates for a spin, crossed a 5 lane road, ran into a post to stop myself, but when I got to the gate the guards wouldn't let in! Had to go the whole way back to return them, while Broc was fit to kill me cos he told me all this would happen before I got them! Eventually we got inside,where I bought myself a gold olympic medal (that I actually won for rollerskating) & wrecked brocs head getting him to take pics! had a rite laugh! Its pure funny though, because the buildings we saw on the tv were impression photos or something, because they didn't look much the same at all! all the buildings were closed aswell, so we couldn't get inside which is such a waste, the don't use them for anything now! Got back to the hostel, had a bite to eat,some drinks & headed to bed!
Sun 11th Oct
We had an early start as we were heading to the 'Great Wall'.It took us 2hrs to get there,then we had 3hrs on the wall, lunch & 2 hrs back again
Gold Medal for Rollerskating & Olympic Torch!!!
! We got a cable car up, to save time (nothing to do with being lazy)! The wall was really good, it was really foggy so the views weren't the best! We were on the way back down to the 2nd part but met up with 2 Canadian guys who twisted Brocs arm (was really hard) to have a beer, so we had a rite laugh with them for about a half hr, so our time was limited for the 2nd part! got as far as we & got this slide down, that was really slow to start with but ended up being really fun! Lunch was gorgeous, 7 different dishes & rice! got a taste of everything! were sitting with a few local, who were giving us funny looks as we tried to master the chopsticks! one of the girls even ordered us a fork, but we didn't give up!! Got the bus back to the hostel & hit off to Silk St, which is a big market, selling loads of fake stuff! spent awhile wandered around there (Broc bought a Ferrari top for half nothing) before heading back, was a bit of a long day! Think the fresh air got to us!!Monday 12th Oct
Today we headed for 'The Summer Palace'! Its where the Emperor spent his summer away from the heat of the 'Forbidden City'! It seemed to be just a big park with a lake, some houses & temples! We rented a pedal boat for an hour & bummed around the lake! was great fun for about a half hour until we got sick of pedalling!
He loves me really!!!
! we took a walk around some of the building & hit back for the hostel to chill out before heading to the night food market (course we got lost a few times on the way back)!! headed to the night market later on in the evening! oh my god it was class, rows & rows of stalls selling random food! we took a walk along to suss it out first! Then on the way back we tried 2 different types of snake (i\one was like fried fish skin, the other really chewy), scorpions (really crunchy), crickets (crunchy, but a little chewy around the arse), & some other creatures!! We enjoyed some fruit covered in sugar for dessert! The lads at this stall were priceless, trying to sell us strawberries, when they were actually cherry tomatoes! They'd try anything to sell, tis gas!! really enjoyed the market, was areal eye (& mouth opener)!!Tuesday 13th Oct
We set off for Tienamien Sq in the afternoon for a bit of people watching! you'll never guess, yes it was closed for some flag ceremony or army training or something! Tis gas, its supposed to be a public square, but seems to be closed for a good part of the day everyday! It was all closed off with ropes & that & then the soldiers would come up & move you from the ropes. We came to the conclusion, they do this kind of random stuff just to show the people the authority they have & its mad because the people fall for it
Cheers!! Nothing like a beer on the wall!!
. We left there before Broc nearly lost it (not mad into communism)!! we headed for lunch, checked out a few restaurant but they were all to expensive, but wait for it we ended up in Haagen Daz eating ice cream for lunch which cost us nearly a tenner each & about 2/3 times the price of any of the restaurant we had looked at early! That was the days budget gone out the window! Twas well nice tho!! we bummed around for awhile, having a look around the shops! It was getting close to train time (to Shanghai) so we headed back to the hostel to collect the bags & get something proper to eat!! Headed to the train station, got there handy enough, but by god did we have some drama finding our train to Shanghai! All the signs & announcements were in chinese. we were like headless chickens, until a security guard (i'm guessing, he had a uniform on him) using hand signals directed us & got there with just minutes to spare! It was an overnight train, so we got a 4-berth sleepers! The trains here (compared to India) are savage! Really nice clean beds, a private tv, slippers, reading light, the works! We dropped the bags, made the beds & headed to the dining car (next door)! All I wanted was a drink, but all they had was beer! Broc was delighted, had one for himself & me! Settled in for the night!! Well comfy! 
Comments
what an adventure!!!
Its great reading all about yer experience, keep it up! hope all is well, thanks for ella gorgeous dress, she has it hanging on her cot, wont put it in wardrobe, and keeps saying 'how gorgeous it is'. Where is the destination this week?? lots of love, Alan, Sharon, and the Queen :)