PixieKatten

2 more days in Beijing and then this trip will come to an end. Although a mental thunder storm hit the city last night we still managed to have a fantastic day at the Summer Palace. Of course we got lost and even managed to lose track of eachother some how.. haha.. but it was still a goos day just hiking around on our own and then meeting up at the exit. Later on while the rain whipped the streets we were safe in the massive shopping mall... bargaining and having a great laugh. I love the game. The shop assistants start at ridiculus high prices. Then they pretend to get upset over the silly low counter offers and then slowly they give in... hunting the buyers down the isles. "You're a friend. I want to sell you this shoes. Come back and I give you good price..."  When one hears that and some babble in swedish the battle is finallyu won. Whoopee... (Oh yes, they speak a little of every language you can think of..)

This morning we got up at 06.30 and went on a tour to The Great Wall. We were supposed to do the thing on our own but with only couple of days left in China we felt like the lazy option suited us better. The whisked us to the wall (Mutianyu part). Three hours of hiking. A free lunch. Having a look at the market. Then swooshed back to the hostel. Back here just after 2pm and after refuling with some caffeine and apple pie we're now off to the silk street market for some more fun and games.

Before I go I just need to say how amazing the wall was. The scene blew me away completely and in justa few days I will show you all the pics (given up on uploading them from here. Doesnt seem to work ok... me cant click on them and get them bigger size anyway...)

Ok so Im offski.
Lots of love to ya all!

-M

Just got back from a visit to the Forbidden City and a wild goose chase in the Hutongs near the hostel. Also had a HUGE dinner, dumplings and aubergine hot pot. Altough a guy on his pedicab tried to get me to pay 300yuan instead of 3yuan for his little bike ride to the hostel yesterday I do feel good about Beijing.  That's just China for you. It is a weird feeling that this is our last stop on the journey. Sad indeed.

The train ride here from Luoyang went very well. They only had standing tickets left for the 5.30am train and although I didnt look forward to standing up for 8hours I had no choice but to but that ticket. It was crazy cheap though and when I got on they gave me a soft seat with no extra charge. Across the table from me sat an old chinese man. He fed me roasted sun flower seeds. He didnt try to talk to me once which was a good feeling. He was well aware of the language barrier and made no attempt to cross it. In silence we ate seeds and watched China go by our window.

Luoyang was an ok city. Rather small in Chinese terms. Only like 1 million people which to them is nothing. I made two new friends, 2 guys from Korea. Had some really interesting talks about the south and north issue and how it all started after the end of world war 2. I felt quite stupid and ignorant. In Europe it was the happiest days ever that the war ended and for them the sad nightmare just begun. They want nothing more than a united country and it is the second time in my life I see somebody talk about it with such passion and sadness in their voice. Almost tears in the eyes. It's an powerfull experience.

In Luoyang I visited The Longmen Caves which was really amazing. More than 100 000 carvings and statues in the cliffs. But it also made me a bit down. So many were smashed during the cultural revolution and and also many are decapitaded. Makes me so angry that 2 museums in USA got two of these heads on show. To me it is pure robbery. They should be returned to China so the work with restoring Longmen Caves can go on. The nature scene picked me up though. It was breathtaking and I spent a an hour or so just hiking around the mountain.

Something real funny happened. As I was walking from the end of the caves on my way to one of the temples there one of the little police cars that runs on batteries and more looks like a beach buggy stopped next to me and 3 giggling police men offered me a ride to the temple. Of course I couldnt resist such an offer and sat down next to the driver. Behind me the 2 officers turned into young school boys instantly. The blushed and giggles and tried to get enough curage to ask me something but instead they hid their faces in their hands. As I got of by the temple I could hold back my own laughter and laughed til I cried. Then I walked around the temple ground for around an hour and believe it or not. As soon as I set my foot back on the boardwalk I hear a voice yelling Hello behind me. Yep same three police guys in their buggy police car comes driving down the narrow street. I am quite sure they had been driving up and down waiting for me to get out. And once again they offered me a ride to the merchant street from where my bus back to Luoyang left. That walk would have taken me maybe 30min but now I got there in no time thanks to my personal taxi. It was hilarious. Unfortunately they refused to pose in a picture. They were so cute in their big helmets and uniform. No way I could ever take them seriously. Guess boys will be boys...

The evening me and the korean fellas spent at restaurants and then beers at the hostel which was actually housed in a hotel so we had our own room with a bath and everything. Altough it was the filthiest thing I seen in my life. It was just I could bring myself to even have a shower there.

Last night Maria went out on her own for a while and I ended up playing Go Fishing with a mad briton. He was completely fried from far too much drugs in his youth but we still had a great time drinking beer and playing cards and exchanging life stories. He had been in China for a couple of months to learn Mandarin and kung fu. That's what I love with travelling. All the different types of people one meets on the way. Some funny ones, a few madmen and then the occasional big bore. 

Now me is going to have a coffee and have a look at all the pics from todays wee wonder in Beijing. Later on I think we're heading for some night markets. Maybe meeting an older american dude in some bar. His first words to me were about Sonic Youth and some chinese band he wanted to see here in Beijing that had played with SY. And that means he's a cool 40-something guy.

Bye for now. Lots of love,
-M