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26 May
Well, China has suddenly appeared, so will continue here. But where has Bhutan got to?
I arrived in Beijing & it was really good to escape the noise, chaos, dirt & crowds of Kathmandu. This sounds ungrateful, but it was wearing and after a day I managed to change my head, get out and start, if not quite enjoying it, then at least to stop sulking ! Taxi to the hotel, then out for getting bearigs. Contrary to my expectations, Beijing didn't just brigten itself up for the 2008 Olympics, but has continued to improve amazingly.
1 there are public toilets every 200 meters in the hutongs (old residential areas).
2 the street cleaners go round every 3 hours or so, so it appears clean all the time.
3 streets e MUCH wider than in Kathmandu, so it dosen't feel uncomfortably crowded
4 it's hot, but the roads are sprayed 2/3 times a day, so it's not sticky hot.
This sounds like a real moan re Kathmandu, but it is a huge & pleasant change.
I'm staying only a few minutes walk away from where I was last time, which means it's been easy to remember some of it. Having used Korean u'ground a lot recently, I'm doing a lot on foot this time. So its mostly confined to within the 2nd ring road ( total of 5 ring roads). The first ring road was around the Forbidden City, but part of Mao's great leap forward was to destroy the evidence of te past - just 1 of the communist regimes many acts of vandalism.
On my way to the post office one day, I went to a small patch of green on the map. It was a boutique park, very small in 2 dimensions, but with the 3rd, it was transformed into something a bit special - plus was midday & I'd got something yummy to eat. A pattern was set. It's exploring variations on a theme, and the differences are many &various. Some have huge lakes , some have sculptres, one had a dragon theme, one copies of famous pavillions around China , yesterday had a new twist, having been adapted for emergency use with facilities for a helipad, hospital facilities, an area for emergency accommodation of tents, food supplies, etc, etc. Maybe in response to fears of N Korea getting trigger happy with their nukes, whatever, it looked like it could cope with any unexpected event; It even had a 600 meter walk marked out for old folk!
Another park, in the 'embassy'area had russian signs in the streets around - from a long ago influx of refugees. My informant is a Belgian staying in the same place - whose name I don't know so I'l call him Hercule Poirot.
The hotell has a small forecourt, which is a real public open space. In the evening kids of alll sizes
- comments
Taal Hello again :O) You left for NK today - I hope... Told Amy at work, she's asked to read your blog :O) All's well here (apart from the dang cold, miserable, wet, grey...) BTW Drew has sold Jessie's place. Looking forward to seeing you agin soon and hearing your tales. Lots of love, Txxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx