I am well and enjoying my holidays. I have slipped back into the world of travel. I have walked on the Great Wall and explored the Forbidden City. Today I saw a great army of Terracotta Warriors.
But I am getting ahead of myself. I hope to write of these things and more but a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single plane ride so I start my report with a chapter I call
The Boring Beginning
Something I am aware of about my writing. When I start a journey I have a lot of time in planes and airports so it seems like a good time to start writing about my trip. But at that point about all I've got to write about is my time in planes and airports. Later on when I am doing all sorts of interesting things I am too busy to write.
Unfortunately it results in an unbalanced journal. I have written too much about the four types of melon you get with your desert on an airplane and not enough about what it's like to ride a bobsled down from the Great Wall of China.
On with the story.
Instant Karma..
As my holidays approach people keep asking me if I am excited. I am busy, rushed and stressed. Sometimes I get moments of excitement but I don't dwell on it because I don't want it to keep me awake at night.
But as I wrap up my work at four PM on a Friday afternoon I am raring at the bit. "Well, I am off to China now," I tell everyone I pass as I head out of the office. At the front door I realise I forgot to set my "out of office" email reminder. A bad mistake before a three week holiday. So I sneak up the back stairwell, head back to me desk, and set it before slinking off again and exit from a different floor.
At the airport I catch up with a friend from work who is flying to Spain that night an hour before me. And by coincidence I run into another friend who is headed to Germany for two weeks to visit her parents. So we have a pleasant social event before we catch our separate flights.
I watch a video on my iPod as I wait for my flight to board.
I'm not excited yet.
We fly above a thick grey blanket.
The morning sun is just below the horizon, a bright round ember, burning an orange hole through the clouds. Above the horizon a few wispy clouds are lit from below.
I wish I had taken the window seat. Last night it didn't seem important for an overnight flight in the dark. When I got to my seat and found it occupied, I let it ride and took the aisle and now the woman is sleeping while I wish I had my face close to the scratched plastic inner window looking out on the great expanse even if it is just cloud.
We land in Guangzhou. The city makes a brief appearance before we touch down. By the time I make my way through immigration and customs my flight to Beijing is already boarding. I find my row number and take my window seat.
The plane fills up and a flight attendant is nearby holding a list and I know he is looking for me to verify my special meal order but he is looking in the wrong direction. The people in the middle row point him my way. I verify my seafood order and now I think ... I look at the letters above the middle seats - GFED. I check my boarding pass and I have seat K. That seems right but I am in the wrong row. No I am looking at the pass from my previous flight. I find my current boarding pass. 63G. I am in the wrong seat. I organised a window seat so I didn't check the letter. I just sat down. I am embarrassed. I signal to the occupant of the middle row and use sign language to indicate I realise the mistake and I am happy to swap seats. But she doesn't mind. I settle back to enjoy my window. My guilt dissipates as I recognise the same situation from my first flight. Instant Karma.
My meal arrives and I enjoy my second seafood breakfast. When you travel by air you have as many meals as hobbits.
The fruit salad deserves an honorable mention. Dragon fruit with orange. Delicious. Most of the time the fruit salad on airplanes is anything up to four different types of melon and if your lucky a grape or two or maybe a piece of pineapple. I dislike all the melons. That's something people find odd about me. Probably the most odd thing about me.* So if I am lucky I have a grape or two or maybe a piece of pineapple.
At Beijing I get my bearings at the airport. I get cash from the ATM and acquire a local SIM card for my phone. In the mobile phone office one of the brochures I take to look at is a tourist map of Beijing which will prove most useful.
I arrive.
I find the airport express train and figure out how to change lines at the subway.
I arrive at Beijing station which I am surprised only has a modest two platforms like any of the other stations we have passed. I refer to my notes and leave by exit A. Now I emerge in the heart of Beijing. Tall buildings are around me. The Beijing Station building is grand and ornate from the outside. It looks just like the pictures from Google maps. This does take away something from the mystery of my adventure but at least I know exactly where I am and it only takes a few minutes to get to my hotel.
In the afternoon I find an eatery with pictures I can point at. I consult my map and decide to visit a large park nearby. I approach a taxi driver who wants to charge me 150 yuan which is about five times the fair price. A second driver wants to charge me a hundred. I decide to take the subway. I enter the main entrance of the railway station. It is large and busy and I realise it is for long distance travel. I have to exit again to find the nearby subway station. It costs two yuan (fifteen cents) to reach the station closest to the park. I still have to walk a bit but that's not a problem and I am starting to master the subway.
The park is picturesque with many people, paths, trees, lakes and pavilions. I am not excited. I sit, I walk, I look. there are many young couples having wedding photos taken. There are people in small boats on the lake. People fly kites. There are ornate sculptures, dry fountains and closed amusement rides. Occasionally the wind sweeps light clouds of dust from nearby construction sites.
I return to Beijing station. I find another eatery with pictures and have dinner. I realize it is another outlet of the same fast food chain and I am eating the same meal that I had for lunch. I also realise it is the fourth meal I've had today. I head back to the hotel watch some video and call it a night.
The summer palace.
It is a new morning and I take some time to make better plans. I have a look at my tourist map and decide to visit the Summer Palace. It is highly rated and accessible by subway.
As I enter I am excited and I know I have made the right choice. There are ornate ancient Chinese buildings among green short scraggly pines. There is a large bridge crossing a still river. On the other side of the bridge there are steps leading to adventure and mystery. But first I follow a path to the left that leads down to the river. This is following the maze principle - just stick to the left and eventually you'll see everything and find your way out again. The river is lined with old buildings that are full of shops and restaurants. The proprietors are wearing traditional clothes to suggest a visit to ancient times. I take some time to relax with a cup of coffee and just sit and look at the beautiful surroundings. There is fine light white fluffy plant matter produced by the willow trees, that floats on the air like snowflakes and amplifies the surreal magical effect.
Over the bridge there are stone paths that lead in different directions. I can see an impressive palace up the hill. unfortunately most of it is covered with scaffolding for renovation. Oh well. Its still wonderful. I head left again on a stone path through the woods. There are many old buildings, pavillions, and arches to enjoy along the way.
Large metal poles brace the tumorous limbs of ancient gnarled conifers. I wind my way up the hill and see beautiful distant tower sitting among tree covered hills. Over a wall I notice a large lake on the other side of the hill. I follow a path down the hill, passing by old buildings that have been built into the slope with grand views of the lake. There are throngs of people walking along the covered path along the lake edge. And now I find the real palace - the buildings and temples covering the side of the hill overlooking the lake. I spend a couple of hours exploring the many buildings.
View of the Summer Palace from the lake side.
I follow the path by the lake to a bridge that lead to a small island. The lake is large enough to have choppy waves whipped up by the wind. I hold my hat across the bridge. I pass a woman selling what looks like small red pieces of sausage on a skewer. Thirty seconds later I turn around and buy one. They are small toffied sour apples.
View of the lake from the top of the Summer Palace. Note the small island in the lake.
The island has a few small buildings including a Buddhist temple. At a souvenir shop I buy a small snow dome with a golden dragon as a present for my younger sister.
I wonder if I have enough time to walk around the entire lake. Maybe if I run. But I decide to head back to the North gate and I have to hurry anyway. After a few wrong turns I make it back to the exit and catch the subway. It takes about an hour to get back to the hotel and I make it in time for the introductory tour meeting.
And the meeting has big news. Did I get the email? No? There has been a change of plans. Our permits to Tibet were denied. One of our party had a surname in common with an American journalist. The tour company resubmitted the application but it was rejected a second time because of the variety of nationalities. The tour company split the one application into three and excluded the Kailash Kora which is a sensitive area. We won't know the results until 4pm tomorrow. In the mean while we discuss alternate options of where we might travel instead in China or Nepal.
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