Beijing Side Trip - January 23-25, 2012

As I head off on the first solo trip of my journey I realize there is a lot less to say but a lot of great pictures :)


My first night in Beijing was the actual beginning of the New Year so everyone broke out the really good fireworks at midnight. There was little sleep that night...

The cool part was flying that night; the fireworks were a amazing from the plane in both Beijing and Shanghai. You could tell where the neighborhoods were located as the explosions went off. Lots of sprawl in both cities.

I booked my hotel on Booking.com and this place was described as a hotel, upon arrival I saw it was also a hostel. I was a bit nervous about my accommodations but it turned out to be fine, just a very budget place.

I did make the mistake of ordering a pizza from the restaurant. It was awful, lesson learned.

Needless to say I was happy that I was alone in this room given the 'bathroom' setup. The shower looked the same and was located directly across from the toilet.

Not a bad sunset over The Forbidden City...

Day 1 I walked over to The Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square about 10 min from my 'hotel'. This is the moat (now frozen) that surrounds the city.

 One of the towers of the city

 Once inside, it is very open. This is the entrance to The Palace Museum that I was too cheap to pay for.

More from inside Forbidden City

 The main entrance of The Forbidden City. This picture fails to accurately reflect the volume of people that were present. As the crowd travels from the interior of the city to this location they are shoved through the tunnels and the tunnel keeps narrowing and the people keep pushing.  I was more than a little claustrophobic as we inched through the tunnel. I got really nervous when the line stopped flowing (and people kept pushing). I don't like crowds...

 To escape the crowds I wandered off to the side and found some fountains that hadn't frozen.

 Directly across the street is Tienanmen Square

 Day 2 I joined a tour to see the Ming Tombs & the Great Wall. This was one of the few signs in English but my guide spoke English, sort of...

Main entrance to the tomb area

 The silk burner

 Great view of the area of the Ming Tomb

On to the chaos that surrounded the Great Wall. The lines were long but apparently my tour guide had the hook up cuz we just cut to the front.  That $10 tour was worth it just for that.

 Up we went in the cable car.

My first view of The Wall from the cable car

 I love how the wall snakes along the ridges and goes on as far as you can see.

 Self-portrait at the top of the wall, note my awesome coat...

What not to wear on The Wall

My final view of The Great Wall as I head back to the bottom.

Where is the line now?

I flew back to Shanghai and packed my bags for a warmer destination, Bangkok!  I said a sad good bye to Jen & Isaac and headed back to the airport for a few months of sun, surf and sand.