Day 24

Today Steve, Malin, Kasja and I went to the Summer Palace. It's an Imperial complex of lakes and temples built as a summer retreat for Emporers since the 18th Century. There were some stunning views to be seen and thankfully the holiday crowds are finally beginning to die down. We hired a boat and spent an hour paddling around one of the lakes. It was very relaxing so long as it wasn't my turn paddling!

1 Walking to the Boat Terminal

The complex is about 18 km North of Beijing and we found out that we could take a boat trip there from central Beijing. It turned out that our pleasure boat was in a different place to where we bought our tickets so a speedboat arrived to transfer us. The speedboat went fast than I guessed it would and while I was busy gripping on to my bag and the boat I lost my hat in the first few seconds of the ride! I thought it was the last I'd see of it, but while I was queuing for the other boat our driver re-appeared with my soggy hat in his hand. Nice one.

2 Kasja and Malin on a bridge

In the evening Steve and I went out for another great restaurant meal and then the main group (about 10 of us) went out to Ho Hai. Ho Hai is a lake-side resort of bars and clubs within walking distance from our hostel. I met two English girls from Cirencester - small world, and we watched some live music for a while and lounged outside by the lake for the rest of the evening.

3 The View from the Bridge

4 The Summer Palace

5 From in our boat

6 The Bridge

7 Under the Bridge

8 From the Boat