Beijing-ers!

---

The 24 hour train ride to Beijing went at the speed of light, met some really nice travelers whilst on the train (don't ask us their names though, haven't got the foggiest!) resulting in plenty of conversation and general story sharing and banter.
After donning our massively heavy bags, which were well over the weight limit, we stood in the immigration queue only to spot Ruth the other side of the barrier! I'm surprised the rest of the world wasn't aware when we saw here as we jumped and I could have sworn the weight of us and our bags must have caused an earthquake somewhere in the world! We were so excited but the immigration lady didn't quite understand that, we don't quite look anything like our passport photo's anymore and she was not all that happy, that is the longest anyone has ever stared at our faces in the history of mankind! But we made and it wasn't long before we were packed in a taxi and on our way to Ruth's flat!
So over the next few days we were true tourists, we visited everything, the forbidden city, tiananmen square, lama temple, temple of heaven, multiple parks, the olympic statdiums and of course the great wall!

Favourites, the temple of heaven. This was because by this point we'd seen a lot of temples and they were all beginning to look the same and loosing their novelty however this one was different and prettier in a way. The gardens surrounding it were magnificent and there was more to do. There was this music section which allowed you to play with the instruments, traditional instruments, which seriously kept us busy for a long while.
The Great Wall was pretty spectacular as well, we got the chance to ride a chair lift upto the actual wall and then climbed along the million's of stairs and hills to the highest point we were allowed to go to which was pretty cool, even though it was ridiculously hot! Clearly the best point was tobogganing back down the wall. Quite possibly would have gone through the mild torture of re-climbing the billion stairs to do that again!
We also had the chance to see a piece of wall that was not built up, that had been left to ruin in a small area with very few or no visitors. This was a really pretty site too, it gave us a chance to check out what really happened to the wall, the state it truly was in with its original brick work etc. A great thing about Beijing though is the set prices for public transport. This could potentially top Hong Kong's public transport! All bus rides are 1 yaun and everywhere on the tube is 2 yaun! Cheap and cheerful! Even though the buses were like all in Chinese so we had no idea which stop was which it was ok cos it didn't cost much to get another bus to the right place!

It was an amazing time as we got to spend a significant time with Ruth. We had some tear filled reminiscing sessions and some tear filled giggling sessions and, goodness, we appreciated her washing machine! Even though it was budget it was so much better than having to wash everything by hand again! It was also lovely as we got to see Harriet's Parents as well, who brought many gifts, including a bag of minstrels which didn't survive the night. They were also lovely enough to relieve us of a lot of our junk!

After spending a whole day finding Ruth's flat under our massive mess it was time to leave again. This was difficult again, for all those who are about to travel this is what we find the hardest part. Yes we get travelers feet, that urge to move to a new place, but its difficult leaving behind people, even if your going to see them again. But there's always new things waiting, different things that we are looking forward to! Bring on Cambodia, let the teaching times roll on!

---