Beijing

Bangalore

Compared to the rest on India this city is relatively sane!! It was a bit more organised and set up properly with the locals a lot more used to Western tourists.  No pictures requested unfortunately.  (Our egos are slowly coming back down to earth).  We stayed in a hotel arranged by Amit (one of my work colleague’s) which was very cool with huge rooms.  We only had two days there so we ventured to the Botanical gardens - India's second largest - and went for dinner in a restaurant on the roof of a tower block overlooking the city (very good) where we saw Man U destroy Arsenal 8-2 – all is right with the world. So it seems we have escaped India without Deli belly (Luckily!!)

Hope you're all well - Roy   

Beijing

So we have now left India behind. It was a slight attack on the senses with constant bright colours, loud noises and strong smells but once you embrace it all India really is an amazing place and we really want to go back to see more!

We have been in Beijing now for 5 days and it's a whole other world! From the minute you step out of the airport the stifling heat hits you and the city is quite dull with a sheet of smog acting as a blanket and making it that much more humid. Saying that, it has been such a brilliant place. The Chinese certainly love their attention to detail and every little street and alley has plenty of shops, bars and cafes all so unique that all you can do is stare as you pass by. Our hostel is smack in the middle of a very cool little area with plenty to look at, every time we walk down the tiny alleys (known as Hutongs) we notice something new.

We booked ourselves into a tour of the Great Wall to see the less commercial part at Jinshanling which was well worth it. It was a bright sunny day and the smog had disappeared?!? The hike took under four hours and it was lots of up and down steps but the views were spectacular. Some parts of the wall were collapsing and other parts were so steep you needed to climb so it was challenging especially in the heat. I think we got a bit competitive though so we tried to beat the rest of our group and made it to the end first, stiff legs all round!

Local Mongolian farmers wives sit at the beginning of the hike and when they see you coming they join you and will walk beside you until the very end trying their best to befriend you in hope that at the end you might buy something off them. Life is so hard for them and the wives do the hike every single day just to make a few euro!! So everyone was ignoring them but when one of them started talking to me about her kids I just went to mush so told her I would buy a souvenir from her much to Roys dismay. We bought two t-shirts for a tenner which was a ridiculous price. I just couldn't help myself so now I have agreed with Roy that going forward he can do all the negotiating!!! : )

Last night we made our way to a famous night market to see the local food and try a few things. At first neither of us were feeling too adventurous - there were tentacles and hairy things and smelly things and wriggling things, however I then decided when else will we do it? So Roy ate a baby pigeon on a stick and I even bought scorpions on a stick, they were surprisingly tasty... and crunchy! We considered trying the snake but maybe next time, couldn't bring myself to try the chickens heart gross!!

We are off to see Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City now and later we shall visit the Olympic Birds Nest which is meant to be particularly cool at night. 

Miss you all, hope all is well!! Onward to Xian next : )

Sarz xx