Day 1 - Beijing

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It has begun!

Well, let's start with the trip up. I had to fly to Sydney to catch the International flight to Beijing, got to Sydney, made it to International - no problems. Boarded at Sydney, and was stuck on the tarmac for an hour as someone decided they weren't going to travel so they had to get their bags off. Slightly annoying, but what can you do?

Anyway, after a 21 hour long day I got to Beijing hopped in a taxi and the language barrier was reached, lucky I had a map of where the hostel was, although even then it didn't do much good! But despite the difficulties I got to my hostel and was pleasantly surprised at how clean and tidy it is. This doesn't mean I got a good night's sleep as one of my room-mates snores like an elephant seal with one mother of a cold! And the beds, so hard!!! But I struggled through and managed to get a few hours sleep.

This morning I was a little hesitant, as it was really the first day of the journey and the first day on my own. But I managed to get through some of the main sights today without any hassles. So, first up was Tiannanmen Square, it was packed and I don't even think that it was a busy day! Not as grand as I was expecting but still huge. So I wandered around being offered kytes, rickshaws, maps, and pretty much everything else and started up a conversation with a guy who was practising his English as he was going to be a volunteer for the Olympics next year. He filled me in on the surrunding buildings and some interesting information about the square and about Chinese history. So he was pretty helpful!

I then made my way into the Forbidden City which, unfortunately was largely being renovated in readiness for the Olympics. This meant that a lot of the larger buildings were closed to the public, but it was still amazing. I didn't realise how large it was it was a huge compound! But I should've guessed when I heard it had 9,999 rooms in it. It was great to see the restored buildings, all the paintwork shiny and new, it made it easy to picture it thousands of years ago in all its glory.

I entered through the South Gate of the Forbidden City and exited at the North Gate which adjoins Jingshan Park, which from what I can tell is the only hill in Beijing. This means that from the temple at the top of Jingshan Park you get a great 360 degree view of Beijing city.

After 'climbing' the hill and taking in the view from Jingshan Park I headed back down and towards the hostel, and here I am, writing this and trying to think about where to get some dinner from...hmmm...there is a restaurant close to the hotel that has "Korean farmed dog"...nah, maybe not.

So that has been my trip so far, while I have taken heaps of photos already, I haven't been able t upload them on this occasion, but will do soon (hopefully). Tomorrow I thought I would try and take care of some procedural matters and head to the Uzbekistani and Kygyzstani Embassies to get my visas; who knows how long that will take!

Thanks for all the messages so far, its great to hear from you all. I hope that everyone is well and has enjoyed my first entry!

Matt.

END TRANSMISSION

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Photos

Hutong Street1
This is the street that my hostel is on.

Hutong Street2
This area is known as 'old Beijing'.

Comments

[trish v]

Hi
Sorry to hear about the 'hard bed' but you will survive - as for Korean Dog for dinner - nope!! Maybe it could be better than snake!!

[trish v]

snakes & dog!
Korean dog might taste much the same as Vietnamese snake!

[Carmen]

Hey matt just read about your first few days you sound like you are having a great time -- although have to admist reading about some of the food your eating did make my stomach turn!!!! lol stay safe xox