October 18th : Last Day of Vacation!

Hey everyone,
So this is it. Our 30th full day of travel. Our last full day, if you don't count tomorrows long haul home - I'm on the fence about whether it counts too.

 Anyway, we woke bright and early, to the amazing view of the river and the sound of birds. We had a late check out and breakfast at the hotel. This hotel wins "best shower", "most comfortable bed" and "greatest view" FYI. I took another shower before we left and washed my hair, TWICE! Hahaha.

Today's plan: A cooking class in Yangshuo at a local restaurant called Cloud 9. Our chef/teacher was Jenny. The class contained a family of 4 from somewhere (we never figured out their accent) and two British couples and Mark and I. Our first stop was the fresh food market.

Amazing selection of vegetables and fruit (dried and fresh), noodles, herbs and spices and tofu products.And fish. Don't ask me why fish and seafood is kept with fruit and vegetables and not in the live meat market next door.

The live meat market; A place where one might expect to find animals that are commonly eaten. The Chinese seem to prefer to buy it live and then kill/prepare it at home. I think it's a cost thing, but could be wrong. In any case, I didn't go in. Those Swiss guys had mentioned that a visit to the live meat market would result in me seeing cats and dogs in cages like all the other meat. Not my thing. I had no intention of seeing something I knew I'd want to unsee almost immediately.

In class we started out making dumplings, then while the they were steaming, moved on to the other dishes. I went vegetarian today, Mark remained omnivorous.

Mark became teachers pet, although sometimes with her accent, it was hard to tell if she was saying "teacher's pet" or "teacher's pest". LOL
We giggled our way through dumpling assembly and for once Mark's handiwork was not better than mine. YES! The teacher even pulled one out of the steamer and "helped" it look better. Hahaha

The class had a great time and when all was said and done, we had plenty of food for lunch and it was actually good.

It was then time for a stroll through town before Jason took us to the airport and we had to say goodbye.

Look what I found: Another wishing tree!

We flew back to Beijing that evening and with the kindness of strangers, made it to our airport hotel later that night. October 19th was the day we left China, crossed 11 time zones and made it safely back to the USA.

Fancy new airplane has tinted windows rather than shades. 

Seriously tired as we dragged our suitcases through the neighborhood at 1:30 am, happy to be home, to look up through clear skies and see stars looking back. Huh... haven't seen a sky like that since we were in Mongolia!

Mark's last comment as we neared home?  "Now we can plan our next trip."

October 9th : Beijing Forbidden City and Chinese Theater

This is the first time I have ever traveled in, shall we say, a very planned and even more comfortable fashion. Waking up under the warm and white covers, with a view from the bed and a clean bathroom just steps away is something I am accustomed to at home, but is fairly new to me as a traveler. I love it!

Julia was collecting us from the lobby at 9am. That meant we could sleep in and recover from the 30 hour train ride and the night before’s 90 minute massage. Massage?! Uh-huh. On suggestion from Julia, we agreed to 90 minute massages in our hotel room, just before bed. One hour total body then 30 minutes devoted solely (get it?) to feet.

Holy cow. Sometimes you just don’t know you need a massage until there is a Chinese lady pressing flesh, rotating joints and pinching and slapping the circulation back into your skin. Yeah, traditional Chinese massage is a little different from the American version! From time to time you feel like you have been a bad person and punishment is being doled out. The rest of the time, it’s a wonderful sensation that I happily sandwiched between sipping a wonderful Australia red that I found in a back alley of Beijing earlier that night.

Check out how they pre-warm (pre-clean) feet when there are no massage therapist props. The ladies each brought with them a plastic bag. Just prior to foot massage they half filled them with hot water from the bathroom and tied our feet inside them. Not a drop spilled on the carpet and it felt great too.

Our agenda was “light” according to Julia. We were to hit Tiananmen Square then explore the Forbidden Palace. Lastly, climb the hill in Jinshan Park, to take in the most expansive view of Beijing.

Tiananmen Square was closed. Some sort of military exercise or visiting dignitary with lots of security or such, was the reason. From across the road Julia pointed out bits and pieces and also gave us her recollection of the events that transpired there to make it famous. She was just 7 years old when the students gathered to peacefully protest. As we all heard around the world, the peaceful intentions went awry and the protests ended up escalating into violence. The military felt threatened and retaliated, the protesters did the same. Lives were lost, lessons were learned and Tiananmen Square will never be the same again.

We moved on to the Forbidden Place, which lies on the same axis (north-south line) in the middle of the city. The central axis for important monuments and buildings is very important in Chinese culture/tradition/feng shui.

The Forbidden Palace is the “inner circle” the most central of the city area, reserved for the Emperor and those he invites to live/work there. If I’m remembering correctly, only about 10,000 people lived/worked in the Forbidden Palace. They included the Royals, concubines, intellectuals (advisers) and other staff.

The Forbidden City is surrounded by a smooth reddish wall.

Outside this area is the Imperial City - a place reserved for slightly less important people but again, not everyone qualifies! Also fortified, the Imperial City has a wall that is bigger and of grey stone. A moat helps stop invasions too. When we asked about invasions, I think Julia said it had been penetrated twice in history. Not bad, considering how long history is in Beijing.

We spent hours learning about the different buildings: The Emperor’s bedroom, bathroom and getting dressed room. His wife, the Empress’ quarters, where she slept, entertained or did whatever. Again, these important rooms were placed along a central axis through the Forbidden City.

Each Emperor had concubines too. Kinda like secondary wives. He chose them and paid for their lifestyles. Earlier Emperors had thousands, later ones appeared to have simplified their lives and kept just a few dozen or hundreds of concubines. The process to choose them is perhaps just as fascinating or more, than needing them in the first place. Concubines could have come from any family/circumstances. All they had to do was first, win the local and regional beauty contests, then meet certain educational criteria (some Emperors like them dim or ignorant, some prefer their concubines to be able to learn/think a bit more) and finally they should pass a “personal hygiene” test. Arm pits were smelled! Everyone has minimum standards.

Outside the Forbidden City there was a street vendor selling what looked to be tiny candied apples on a skewer. As our eyes strayed his way, Julia picked up on our curiosity and bought us a stick to munch on. Not apples. Hawthorn fruit covered in boiled sugar. A little sour, a little sweet, crunchy with pits in side. Really quite nice. Probably not something I would have dared try if alone. I’d eat that again!

Mark and I took a stroll up the hill at Jingshan Park while Julia “waited” at the bottom. Waited implies she was doing nothing, which is wrong because that definitely wasn't her style. While we were out of sight she was updating the driver on timing and location, getting the car ready, making plans to take us to a local restaurant for lunch, confirming things for this afternoon. She is the wizard behind the curtain.

The air was cold but clear. I enjoyed strolling but wished I had a few more layers to put on. Apparently Julia and I are cut from the same cloth; She too had goose-bumps. We ascended, we viewed, we photographed and we reconnected with Julia at the bottom.

After lunch - during our ‘free time’ today, Julia had suggested we check out a Chinese Acrobatic show. It seemed like a warm and fun way to spend the afternoon, so that’s where she left us around 3pm - after buying us tickets and walking us all the way to our seats! (It was walking distance to the hotel and we felt confident that either we, or Google would successfully get us “home” ok later, so we said goodbye for the day.)

Bwaa hahahahaha!
You have to experience Chinese matinee theater to believe it. First of all, 80% of the patrons are talking… Not just before the show. They don’t stop, so it’s also during the entire performance. And not quietly either. The other 20% fell asleep before the show began and never woke up when it started, despite the incredibly loud sounds and bright lights.

Cell phones are never off… I mean never even silenced and they don’t go unanswered either. Phones ring and people answer them in the middle of the show! The occasional person will leave the theater to take the call, but they answer it in their seat first and talk their way up the isle as they exit.

Before the main performance began, the announcer asked for volunteers for prizes. About a dozen or so people exuberantly raised their hands and went backstage to claim something. The lady in front of us was chosen and appeared to be over the moon. She returned in 5 minutes with a cylinder in hand. Her husband decided to open it and extract the poster she had won, in the middle of the show. I was sitting behind him, so of course we had to move. He was holding up a full size poster between me and the stage, in the dark and they were talking excitedly about it. OMG! Mark and I got the giggles.

On the bright side, I did feel that I had been given every license to take out my own cell phone and photograph/video all parts of the show, just like every Chinese person was doing! LOL

Hard to see, but 5 full sized motorbikes are whizzing around inside!

Our Chinese "tour" goes mostly like this: Breakfast at the hotel in the morning, lunch restaurant chosen and lunch paid for by the guide - she also recommends dishes, educates us about what is a specialty of the city, district or this particular restaurant - and for dinner, we are on our own.

What happens when two tired, illiterate and somewhat adventurous tourists stray too far from their hotel in the dark of night and roll the dice regarding restaurant choice and menu selections?

You get ass of the dry pan for dinner!

I giggled A LOT today.

October 7th-8th : Crossing from Mongolia to China

I wouldn’t say border crossings were my least favorite part of the journey. I’m still getting over the mare’s milk tea after all. But they are not fun for a number of reasons.

We left Ulaanbaatar about 7:30 am. Leaving behind a city that was now under light snow and far from warm.

Look closely through the extra grimey window and on the left you will see our Trans-Mongolian train rounding a corner!

It wasn't long before we broke out the picnic we have come to love on the train. Sure... There is a dining car again but we were running low on Mongolian money (still don't know the name of the currency here) and were saving it for pee-breaks. Did I forget to mention that almost everywhere we went in Mongolia, the fee for using the bathroom was about 500 MNT? The train didn't charge, but in any case, you are advised to bring your own toilet paper... What might be provided may or may not feel like there is enough of it (size or quality) to put a barrier between you and your hiney! I called the measly amount of money rattling around our money belts, pee-pee-money. We didn't spend it until just before the border - when a Mongolian artist got the last of our cash in return for a local painting.

Crossing into China from Mongolia was a 4-5 hour affair. In the middle of the night - same time as the crossing from Russia to Mongolia, as (bad) luck would have it.

The low down:
First you stop on the Mongolian side and they check your customs form, filled in on arrival, a week ago. Not entirely sure of the rational there. Then they take your passports and leave the train for a wee while, You are not permitted to leave the train at all. The stop is scheduled to be 100 minutes and during this time the bathrooms are locked. (I understand this part; Since the human waste is “flushed” directly onto the tracks, it totally makes sense to put the stoppers on that while at the station.)

There is a short ride through no-mans-land and the train arrives at Erlian Station, China. From here, there is a definite process. The Chinese, like the Russians, are very organized - a far cry from the Mongolian loosey-goosey style we have come to accept over the last week.

The train is flooded with uniformed personnel… military, police, border control and ? They walk around a bit, don’t talk to anyone and then leave.

We are instructed to take all of our luggage with us and get off the train. Word has it, this departure will be for about 2-3 hours. The schedule says it’s a 300 minute stop. It is now 9 pm and pretty cold outside.

Inside the station building we line up, much like you would arriving by flight, and go through passport control. This includes facial recognition, finger printing and the checking of our passports/visas (acquired through Chinese Embassy in the US back in July) and arrival cards.

Then we feed all our luggage through a scanner before being permitted to exit the “inspection area”.

Now in what appears to be a main terminal, we have two choices; Stay downstairs on the metal seats or go upstairs and sit on the metal seats. There is no ATM, restaurant, vending machine, shopping etc. The floor is shiny and clean and hard and cold. The building is modern, has drinking water including a dispenser of hot water and bathrooms that are almost western feeling if you ignore the squat toilets. Check out the signs on the cubicle doors though. I’m not even sure where to go with this as I haven’t used the word “normal” to describe myself in quite some time.

The next few hours are spent here… chatting, reading, napping, eating the Ramen noodles and chocolates we bought with us. 

Wifi is not an option. :-(

Our train has disappeared from the track we arrived on and we know that means it is off somewhere getting it’s wheels changed. We trust it will come back. Obviously this is not the first time the Trans-Mongolian train has attempted to transit Mongolia... so that is good. 

China has protected itself from being invaded via Mongolia and Russia by cutting off the invaders way to bring in supplies (and building a giant wall helps too). The train tracks themselves are of a different size so the train must switch wheels to accommodate the new tracks before it can go any further. It’s genius… to a point.

Around 1 am, we get the ok to board the train again. We (like almost all the western looking travelers from this train) have already eaten, brushed teeth and geared up for bedtime, using the terminal bathrooms. Our happy little Chinese carriage attendant passed through just before lights out and handed us coupons for a free breakfast and lunch tomorrow. That was a super nice surprise since we don't have Chinese money yet and didn't think we'd be "dining out" at all before Beijing.

Breakfast was to be taken at 6:30 - 7 am
Lunch between 10:30 and 11:30 am

Im telling you, these Chinese are organized! They have found a work around to having 8 carriages of people descend on the one dining car at 8 am each morning. Every carriage got coupons with a different time for breakfast/lunch. Making it FREE means you motivate people to cooperate with the prescribed schedule. Order is been maintained. Everyone wins.

I didn’t hear a peep out of anyone as the train departed. Safely tucked into our bunk beds with clean white sheets and cozy brown blankets, we slept away the first 6 hours of western China.

Breakfast went as planned for us. Not so much for the poor schmuck who overslept and arrived at 7:03 am, though. He was told "no breakfast for you" after a quick review of his coupon.

Arrival in Beijing couldn't have been smoother either. Outside the main terminal, we dragged our increasingly heavy suitcases and were met immediately by Julia (guide) and our driver, holding a "Mark and Dallice" sign. Dang that was easy and stress-free!!!

They stopped at an ATM for us and then delivered us safely to the historic Dongfang Hotel. Julia's job is more than you'd think a guide does. She is essentially the new mother to two highly dependent (don't know what they don't know) toddlers named Mark and Dallice. She doesn't turn her back or dare leave the building until the hotel clerk has transferred all the relevant info; room numbers, breakfast instructions and directions to us, via her. Her English is fantastic and she takes a lot of pride in making sure there is zero confusion, zero anxiety and zero ways we could do harm to ourselves or the enjoyment of our Beijing vacation.

I love her already. Beijing is going to be great!