I’m writing this post, pissed, on a sleeper train from Beijing to Xi’an. I’ve spent the past 3 days in Beijing having a great time. Today I visited the Great Wall and, whilst eating I’m a restaurant at the foot of the mountains with a view of the wall, was struck by a realisation of how lucky I am. How lucky I am: to have survived my many and various illnesses when the odds haven’t been in my favour, and also how lucky I have been to have been born in the UK, to have had the childhood I had which gave me the skills necessary to both cope, and use the negative energy from my illness(es) and losses to motivate me to have these wonderful experiences.
On arrival in Beijing I got a taxi to my hotel, which was a far smoother journey than I was bracing myself for given my past Asian experiences. No horns, no collisions, and no extortion. I arrived at my hotel and met Katie, who is of a very similar age to me and also grew up in Northamptonshire. My first observation was that my (non-existent) research had meant I’d brought the wrong plug sockets so I went to a local market and brought an adapter which sparked when I plugged it in. That night we met up with a group of other travellers and went to a local restaurant for dinner. After we’d eaten we still fancied a few drinks and asked the restaurant if this was possible. The response was “yes, but you’ll need to do it on the pavement but we’ll provide the chairs”. I’ve taken up worse offers in my life so that’s exactly what we did, much to the amusement of the locals who took photos of us. We drank, we talked, and we had a great time.
The next day I went to Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City. Both sites are impressive, but the first thing that struck me was the lack of explanatory literature and after talking to a few locals it became clear that they legit had no idea of the significance of 1989. Bloody mental. It was raining so I bought a rainbow umbrella hat for ¥30, which would have been a bargain at twice the price for such a magnificent item of millinery.
Following this I hit a bar and went to the loo. I’ve never stored a phone in my back pocket before and certainly never dropped one down the toilet, but that’s exactly what happened on this occasion. Of all the (squat) toilets in all the world, this was not the one one to pick. I scooped it out and tried to resuscitate it as best I could with the limited resources available, but unfortunately it RIP-ed that afternoon (Megan, that’s why communication might be limited, not necessarily because of anaphylaxis, sepsis, or kidnap) and it was in a bar that was charging ¥50 (£5) for a beer, so not even really worth it.
Today I went to the Great Wall. I took a chair-lift up to the top (screw those steps up), and walked 2 miles of the wall. It was undoubtedly impressive but somewhat marred by the infamous ‘Beijing Smog’ which affected visibility. It was still well worth the sweaty effort of climbing a zillion steep and uneven steps, and I took a toboggan ride down to the base which was BRILLIANT.
This evening I boarded a sleeper train to Xian with the other travellers I met in Beijing and quite a few beers. Someone brought a bottle of Bijou (a 43% spirit) and dished out (large) shots (in cups) on the train. I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but I was given the title of “champion” because I saw off every cup thrust my way, whilst remaining just sober enough to write this post. Colin taught me well.
I’m off to sleep in my (middle) bunk now, and I’ll give you an update on the head situation when I next have WiFi.
Love Emily x
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