The Jourey to Beijing went without hiccup.The was a slight delay on the first flight out of heathrow, which ment that by the time i got to Doha, my flight was already boarding. the plane's were really nice, i had a tv screen to myself with a selection of films. i watched two, casablanca and juno. I did feel like a fish out of wazter when i first got on the flight, offering the air hostess money for my first vodka and orange. complemntary drinks?! who'd have thought!

As we flew over saudi arabai , i must admit i started to cry. i didnt feel anxious or sick, but it had just suddenly dawned on me how far away from home i was. Uncle Geoff's funeral was that day too. Even as i write this now, i still cant get my head around it. it was a weird old day.

I arrivd at Beijing airport and collected my baggage. that place is huge. similiar to stanstead in that it has a shuttle that goes between the terminals, but i kept my cool and headed out to meet my taxi driver. I spotted him and said hello. he didnt reply, just checked his watch and grabbed my bag from my back. i think i'd pissed him off cos i was a bit late!

The taxi ride to the hotel, was my first taste of china. WOW. the first thing you notice is just how many people there are here. its still not somethoing i can get my head around. The standard of driving in china is dreadful. there are no rules, apart from, beep your horn ALOT! I dout you have to pass a driving test over here! The taxi driver stopped in the middle of Beijing and opened my dor, he pointed round the corner. I guess i'm on my own from now on i thought. So i grabbed my bags and wandered off to find the hostel. thankfully it was just round the corner. As i was checking in the lady behind the desk informed me that my room mate was already in our room. Room mate?! s*** i'd forgotton about that! i headed upstairs to meet my new roomie.

Caieta (Keeta) is a solicitor from London, very well spoken and full of smiles, i knew we would get along fine. i didnt have a shance to change my clothes, just have a quick spray of deodrant and i was off to the group meeting to meet everyone else in the group.

The meeting went well, we met our chinese tour guide jackie, shes really funny. we paid our money,filled in the forms and then headed out for some dinner. it was really nice, jackie introduced us to loads of delicious foods. I thought the turtle on the bar was a nice touch, until someone informed me that he was actually there to be eaten. poor thing!

After food, we all headed back to the hostel to check out the bar area. it was really cool, loads of low sofa's full of travelling folk. we met some really nice people that night, drinking beers signing oasis songs and getting drunk. happy days!