Follow That Bird Flu
Trip Start
Feb 26, 2004
1
9
84
Trip End
Nov 16, 2006
Beijing,
China
Friday, March 26, 2004
We've made it to Beijing and so finished the Trans-Siberian (more specifically the Trans-Mongolian) route. Absolutely fantastic while it lasted but nice to slow the pace down.
So from now on rather than homestays its on to the backpacker route of hostels (distinguishable by the number of westerners spending all day watching pirate DVDs in the bar and using the word 'Mecca' at any given opportunity).
So we're staying in the Far East Hostel which has turned out to be a great deal. The English pair from the Ger camp have stayed here with us. Jo has since flown on to Nepal to do a few treks while Tim has stayed. He's a good laugh and reminds me of Patch, so it looks like we'll be travelling around China together for a while.
Beijing is class and I feel alot more safe and welcome here than in Russia. Some parts are quite Hong Kong like, and the people are really friendly...which I find is the case in Asia generally, and which is missing in Europe.
Still, most of them are trying to sell something. We are consistently being stopped by Calligraphers who want to show off their art to us. Went to a couple galleries. Surely they can see we're complete tramps and are highly unlikely to buy any of their stuff no matter how good? One of them looked like a Chinese Orla Gaffney which of course made it even harder to say no.
Been a busy week with trips to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and The Summer Palace.
We decided to go to the less touristy part of the Great Wall at Simatai (apparently elsewhere there's loads of tourists, it's fully restored, and Mickey Mouse characters walk up and down with you).
1 - Me & Mao
Absolutely amazing and far beyond my expectations. Can't describe it.At the Forbidden City we got an audio tour of the place which was voiced by Roger Moore. Brilliant. You walk round and you have the 4th best James Bond telling you what everything is. The world just hasn't been the same since without his comments.
All the places have LOADS of tour groups. I don't mind loads of tourists...I'm well aware that I'm a tourist too (some people aren't), but I don't get why people want to look round these places in groups of 40 or 50.
Obviously some time in the past these groups got so big that people started getting lost, and having to eat each other to survive, or (worst case scenario) had to find their own way around and read about each site rather than have someone to describe it to them.
Therefore someone's come up with the idea that the tour leader carries a flag around so everyone can see it.
The really impressive tour groups seem to also provide free matching hats to everyone, and the tour guide carries a megaphone (or in one case a Britney Spears-esque hands-free microphone).
So now, in the most impressive serene settings you can suddenly turn to find some guide shouting through a megaphone that now would be a good opportunity for all the people in yellow baseball caps to take a piss.
Oh yeh, we had a game of Coin Tossing on THE wall. Finally fulfilling the ambition. Unfortunately a German girl, Bianca, beat Mike and I. Gutted.
Would have been great if all the Mill was there, but had to instead pretend they'd all left early with their girlfriends to get Burger King.
Heading to Xi'an after here. Tried to buy a China book but the most recent we can find was printed in about 2002 and numerous paragraphs have been censored. Loads of passages about Tibet are just tipexed out! I heard there was censorship here but didn't realise it would be that extreme.
Have managed to upload photos for here and all the previous entries now so they're there for your pleasure!
Comments
Hi Siscri,
'All the places have LOADS of tour groups. I don't mind loads of tourists...I'm well aware that I'm a tourist too (some people aren't), but I don't get why people want to look round these places in groups of 40 or 50.'
People travel in groups mainly for security, Siscri. Most of these groups are made up of seniors or single women who are a bit nervous about travelling to iffy countries alone. They are tourists, not travellers like you backpackers are.
I actually took a group tour a few years ago to Morocco, amongst other places, and it was splendid. Sometimes we couldn't stay as long as I wanted to, and they do tend to rush you off to see still more sites, but for me it was the only way I would travel to a third world country, and especially a Muslim country, but I felt perfectly safe amongst our group.
Hi Siscri,
'All the places have LOADS of tour groups. I don't mind loads of tourists...I'm well aware that I'm a tourist too (some people aren't), but I don't get why people want to look round these places in groups of 40 or 50.'
People travel in groups mainly for security, Siscri. Most of these groups are made up of seniors or single women who are a bit nervous about travelling to iffy countries alone. They are tourists, not travellers like you backpackers are.
I actually took a group tour a few years ago to Morocco, amongst other places, and it was splendid. Sometimes we couldn't stay as long as I wanted to, and they do tend to rush you off to see still more sites, but for me it was the only way I would travel to a third world country, and especially a Muslim country, but I felt perfectly safe amongst our group.
Contrast
Si, Are all your friends 'small people' or are you just really tall?