Heading North

Leaving Hong Kong felt quite strange. I was happy because it was the start of a new adventure but I was also sad because I know it will be some time till I return.

The one part of me that was totally relieved that I was leaving was my liver. Since I arrived there had been endless parties and far too much drinking, the last big party not seeing me arrive in bed till 8.30am.

Nikki, Jen and I all met together at Hung Hom station in Hong Kong. We had tickets and passports and were fully prepared for the 24 hour journey to Beijing. The train was comfortable but cramped and for a large part of the trip I slept off the previous week in Hong Kong. That is one good thing about long train journeys, the movement seems to send me to sleep and it's probably the only time where it is acceptable to spend long periods in bed.

When we stepped off the train in Beijing the first thing that hit me was the cold weather. We had gone from humid and hot to cold and crazy. I say crazy because suddenly people forgot how to line up in an orderly manner, found spitting totally acceptable and toilets became an open plan design experience again.

All three of us intrepid travellers had been to Beijing before so we had the luxury of not having pressure to fill our visit doing tourist stuff. We needed to get our Mongolian visa from the embassy and this was the only important thing on our to do list. We nearly had a serious issue with the visa because the embassy stopped providing same day visa service. This meant we missed the train we were intending to take and would have to spend a week in Beijing waiting for the next service. Thankfully after substantial issues at the train station we discovered that there were two train services to Mongolia. Nikki upon hearing this announced that she loved the man behind the counter and I think she was close to kissing him.

If finding a second train service was not lucky enough, we were also in Beijing for what must be one of their clearest days of the year. We woke up one morning to blue sky, sunshine and visibility that is incredibly rare for such a usually smoggy and polluted capital city. We suddenly had the urge to become total tourists and take advantage of the weather. We went into the Forbidden City but only as far as the gate overlooking Tianamen Square. I stood where Chairman Mao once stood overlooking countless parades and celebrations. We then walked to the other side of the Forbidden City and up to a park with a hill overlooking the city and Beijing. We watched the sun set over the place where countless emperors lived and then did the very Chinese thing of going to a pub called the Den and eating pizza and drinking local beer.

There were other highlights to Beijing. We ate incredible Peking duck and I visited the Summer Palace. We also went to see the Beijing acrobatic show which left me open jawed and in awe at the flexibility and impossibility of some of the tricks and shows that were displayed.

Overall my feeling about Beijing is that it is an interesting and fun place, but after two visits I have ticked it off my list. If I return again it will be because of reasons other than seeing the sites and having a holiday.

The next stop is Mongolia. Did you know that the capital city of Mongolia is on average the coldest capital city in the world? Did you know I feel totally unprepared for this? I have purchased a big black wool hat which apparently makes me look like a coal miner. Pictures of Beijing will be added to this post soon.

bx