6 October

This morning I woke at dawn (about 0615) in Berth 12 in Car 8 on the Z20 train from Xi’an. We were somewhere outside Beijing and the suburbs came into view not long after I had got up and dressed (no shower in the cabin and I really didn’t have time to look elsewhere). My cabin-mate got up not long after and we were both ready when the train pulled into Beijing at 0714. When I got out I was just about to message Eugene when he appeared behind me.
Getting out of the station was slow as all tickets (train and platform) were being checked, This is the first station where I have seen this on exiting (in the past twenty years). We walked to were the car and driver were, past a small poodle in jeans, T-shirt and red boots. Fortunately the jeans had cutouts so the dog could do what dogs do. Once in the car I got my train ticket for Wednesday (I will have to order a taxi, so I have to make sure I keep at least 50 Yuan in cash). Then Eugene popped out at a hotel to do his guide duties today and the driver dropped me back at my hotel (Beijing Sihe Hotel, in a Hutong). My luggage and laundry were waiting for me and I could go straight to my (new) room, unpack, connect the laptop and upload photos and blogs, while also doing washing and having a shower (after cleaning my boots – for some reason they are getting very dusty in China). The air was a lot clearer, apparently due to rain last night.
So washed and in clean clothes, I set out for the post office and sent some books back home (on the Forbidden City and the Great Wall). Then back at the hotel I couldn’t find the map I had been using, and the new one I got wasn’t as clear. I decided I would see the Temple of Peace and see how I went after that.
I walked down there, partly through another hutong, and decided I would walk back through the rest. When I got to the Temple of Peace (in reality a park with temples inside) I had the choice of a 15Y ticket or a 35 Y ticket (through). Knowing things never get cheaper, I got the through ticket and went in.
The park (originally part of the area for the emperor – a hunting park) is very large and very well kept. The temples inside have been well renovated and are colourful and in good condition. Then I found that my ticket got me into all three –otherwise I would have had to pay 20 Y for each (a total of 75 Y)!
I had quite a few people who smiled back as I walked around. One was an American couple from New York (retired teachers) and he was tickled by my anecdote from New York. I had a good look inside each area and, to my surprise, found it was 1630 and I still had more to go.
When I finally called it a day inside, it was close to 1700. I walked out and declined the offer of a rickshaw ride (although perhaps I should have just had a short one), the walked back through a hutong just opposite. Like where I am, it was very interesting to see how the people were living and how they had small markets set up (but because it wasn’t dark yet, the hot food vendors weren’t out in force).
Perhaps I shouldn’t have had the brochure for the Temple of Peace showing out in Chinese, as one gentleman on a bicycle stopped me and told me I was going the wrong way. It took a bit of convincing on my part to let him know I was returning from there, not going there, and I knew where I was going. Then I got another young Chinese couple who wanted to talk, once they found I was from Australia, but at this stage I was tired (and so were my feet) and all I wanted to do was go back to the hotel and rest (and write things up). I apologised politely and headed back to the hotel.
Once back I took my boots off (don’t know if I will get them back on again tonight), checked the state of my washing (nothing dry!), put the batteries in to charge, processed the pictures, wrote my blog and then went “phew!”
I want to get to bed early tonight as I have a long day in the country tomorrow, then catch the train early on Wednesday morning. I don’t know how I will get on with posting anything from tomorrow night (okay) until I get back into Russia (I assume the hotel I’m staying at in Moscow will have Internet, but if I don’t post anything Wednesday week, then you’ll know it hasn’t. After that I’ll be in Istanbul for four days and I don’t know about there. Then there is the tour of Turkey, and I assume some of the hotels will have Internet. Once I’m in Egypt I really have no idea, so there may be an hiatus until I return home.
My only problem with that is my fickle fans on Flickr desert me if I don’t continually post photos. I suppose I will just have to get used to low numbers looking and then a flood once I post.
Otherwise, apart from aching feet, everything is well – the temperature today was cool in the morning and warm in the afternoon, but cool again after dusk.