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Last day in Kathmandu was chilled sorting everything out, not without another outburst from Hans however but this time to a monk chanting a mantra outside at 5am lol (Hey faaakin shattap faakin every morning too early go to beed, Faakin b****** b****!) Had my last dose of momo & yak cheese, then had a dodgy street seller trying to get me to import some of his gems into OZ when I go there, err I don't think so!! Had two real good flights over to Beijing, the first to Guangzhou had el clasico trance tune 'Pearl River' in me head since this is the main river that runs through the city. Didn't realise how close it is to Hong Kong however?! Once got to Beijing was bloody freezing, with the wind chill the temperature was below freezing and the river was completely frozen over. Was a bit tired but met a geeza from Taiwan in my dorm and we headed out to Wangfujing which is famous for its streetfood. Straightaway saw scorpions and tucked into them, suprisingly tasty! Had a spider (smallish not tarantula size even though fair few of them about), the legs were alright but the main body had a horrible bitterness that lingered long after. Tried some other local 'delights' including a smelly tofu and some other smelly soup type thing which was minging, found octopus & seafood on sticks so was in my element. Saw live scorpions on sticks but thought that's a bit too far, ain't munching on live crunch! The main thing that hit me here is how westernised and opulent it is, ain't seen one banger yet, lots of mercs, audis & bmws about and plenty of packed shopping malls and even more surprisingly lots of Christmas decor! The hostel even blasted out tunes in the evening, actually feeling Christmasy now!! The tubes here are cool, they project adverts from the train onto the outer wall of the tunnel. Booked a high speed train ticket within minutes of arriving between Beijing & Shanghai, complete contrast to India where booking train tickets is a huge pain in the ass..
Friday it was freezing as soon as went outside, we went to local place to get traditional Chinese breakfast but they had sold out of it so ended up having brunch of Chicken noodle soup which was a godsend in the weather, reminded me of a Chinese version of pastina, just what the doctor ordered to combat the cold. We headed to the north-east of the city to see an arts exhibition centre but it was a bit further than we thought and required a taxi so went over to the Olympic Village instead. That was real good bar the bloody wind chill factor which made it even colder, had two pairs of socks, long johns/pants, a t-shirt, two jumpers and windproof jacket etc and was still freezing and apparantly it gets even colder in January! The Olympic village was impressive, the Birds Nest stadium was awesome as was the Water Cube where all the swimming events took place. They even had a winter sports area where one could ski, play curling and just mess around in the artificial snow! The lake nearby was frozen over so we walked and jumped on it. We got the bus back towards the hostel but instead of getting the tube back from where the bus dropped us off we walked and came across some eating areas which were good and tucked into bigger dumplings. After that stumbled across a traditional Chinese market literally minutes from the hostel which would've otherwise missed which was good to see, saw grapefruits the size of footballs! In the evening my Taiwanese friend & I met up with some friends of his from Hong Kong and went out into another part of town called Qianmen and had Chinese hotpot.. completely different from Lancashire hotpot I tell thee! You basically got all the ingredients raw and put them in the hotpot which has boiling water in it, left it boiling as long as you wished, dipped in some sesame and chilli sauce et voila! Was a real good experience and packed with locals, the thing that astounded me is we ordered quite a lot of meat including lamb, beef, kidney and so forth and yet it only came to just over £20 in total which for the amount of food we ate was just unbelievable!
Christmas Eve started off really well.. started off with a traditional Chinese breakfast of this pastry type thing with breadcrumbed chicken in the middle and some dim sum of course! Headed off out exploring Beijing by myself today, headed to the Summer Palace first which in Winter was a real wonderland. Lots of temples, lots of serenity especially at the placid and mostly frozen Lake Kunming. Really enjoyed time spent there and wanted to stay longer but had to head to other sights. Got to Tianmen Square and that's where it all went pete tong.. 'Befriended' a local who said was going to Forbidden City also.. went to a sidebit of the City and got stung in a tea house.. had to pay about £30 for 3 cups of tea.. well pissed off but could not do anything about it.. Went to Forbidden City after but was steaming in anger.. my fault for being naive & stupid but in the grand scheme of things 30 squids ain't a biggie eh.. My spirits lifted however at the Temple of Heaven, got there bit late due to Beijing traffic so couldn't go into the main complex bit however it was heartwarming to see old Chinese people congragated playing cards and also singing and dancing and playing keepy ups with a giant shuttlecock in the park, soon put a smile back on my face. In the evening had a Christmas hotpot party at the hostel which was aiight but was the only foreigner there and mostly speaking Chinese so felt bit left out at times!! Tried the local firewater though Baijao which is 56 per cent, warms thy cockles!
Christmas day was all about one thing.. distraction from the big day so what better way than miles upon miles of wall.. The 'Great' wall.. Mr Pilkington was spot on once again.. it is indeed the alright or not so great wall.. didn't impress me much, think if saw it from the air/space the magnitude of it would impress me more. To me it was a lot of steps, a lot of bricks, a lot of wall and that's yer lot! Felt more like an amusement park the section we went to although it is the more touristy segment as the other more remote ones are harder to get to out of season. Deffo my least favourite 'wonder' thus far. Once back in Beijing went to another eating district and tucked into some Peking Duck which was a good alternative to Turkey! Headed back to hostel after to skype ma loved ones back home.
Boxing day was an early get up and a morning train to Shanghai, the express train isn't cheap but at speeds of 300kmh+ its well worth it and a different alternative to flying. Its a nicer version of Virgin trains also haha and the 5 hours went real quick onboard. Found hostel easily and after freshening up headed straight out, went to the Bund area famous for its 1920/1930s buildings and architecture by the Huangpu river which remind me of European buildings a fair bit. Across the river is more like a mini Manhattan, was there at dusk and was wonderful to watch day turn to night seeing the dazzling lights and delights on the skyscrapers in the Pudong distric across the river light up.
Woke up early due to people leaving my dorm early so headed out at 8am and it was nice to walk down the main shopping street (East Nanjing Lu) when it was quieter, got to People's Park/Square and full of old Chinese men and women doing tai chi, some organised dancing and using swords and hand fans as part of their morning exercise routines. Walked over to the Yu Gardens which was ok and then onto the City temple of Shanghai, a Taoist temple. The old town was ok to walk through but Shanghai isn't as good as Beijing imo, it feels like a fake China in comparison. Beijing has got a good balance between the old and new and plenty of sights to see whereas Shanghai is mostly about sleek and chic sophistication with lots of malls and skyscrapers about. Had some really cheap noodles in nearby local restaurant, the geeza hand made them there on the spot and only a quid, delish & dirt cheap! Chilled in the bar area of hostel in evening with couple of fellow Brits, best hostel had so far in my travels however don't think gonna get that quality again sometime soon unfortunately hehe. Pretty funny at night some sorta dispute between a man, two women and a policeman, we think basically one of the women found her fella cheating on her so it became the Chinese version of Eastenders live in the middle of the street!!
On the way to Pudong airport, had to get the Maglev train as always been fascinated by the technology, it was great fun watching the speedometer go up to 430 kmh and the journey took less than 7 mins! Got to airport and there was another problem, lady at check in said flight has changed, now later and at the other airport which is at the other side of Shanghai and a good 2 hours away. Luckily they managed to sort it out however and got on the flight from Pudong where met an OZ couple and chatted the whole flight away which made it seem like just been in the air for a few minutes. The bus journey into HK was brill seeing the sea and the skyscrapers. Dropped my bag off in my minute room and headed straight down Nathan Road to the harbour. Got there at sunset which was great seeing the colourful hues mixed with the haze around the harbour and walked up and down Avenue of Stars then watched the lights switch on the skyscrapers across the harbour. Looking forward to my beautiful butterfly landing in HK tomorrow and spending New Years together.
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sam Hello amigo a takaloo puchoo janu yeah! I am utterly exhausted reading your long wounded comments my GOD!!!!!!!!!!!! You have alot to say glad you are ejoying your time. You are certainly living the dream! Sorry for not keeping touch any sooner its just that this the first time i have been on FB since you left CTO seriously man. I got in the Police by the way nervous as ever! :-( Glad you are enjoying yourslef but make sure you keep a close eye on strangers and use protection at all times. C you soon brother peace samxxxxxxxxxx