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Published: August 29th 2007
Hotel lobby
Hotel lobby, park plaza hotel. ShineyThe flights were long and arduous. But Qatar airways ran flawlessly, there were no screaming children, very few snorers, and we arrived at our desination on time and with all our luggage.
Transferring at Doha was like walking into a tropical greenhouse, and this was at 11pm local time. The air condensated
outside the air-conditioned bus! Doha is a main city in the endearingly tiny state of Qatar, which has a population one third that of Belgium. Everything in the airport was very swish and modern. Unless you tried to buy some food or go to the toilet, where the taps wobbled and the toilets don't accept loo paper (goes in the bin on the left hand side). It was here I jettisonned my copy of Wild Swans. The only English speaking person I could see wandering round the book stand had already read it, and agreed wholeheartedly that it wouldn't be best to be found with it at Chinese customs. In the end it just got left. I wonder how often airport staff find them.
A chocolate frappachino in the starbucks in Beijing airport was just the right thing to jerk me out of my zombie state (I've
Hotel room
Executive room, 15th floor. We tidied it up later, promise. never yet fallen asleep while in a plane), having sugar
and caffiene
and ice. It melted rapidly in my hand in the long queue for the taxis. Beijing wasn't warmer than England but much more humid, so we gently sweltered.
Beijing traffic. Seems assertive without being aggressive. A lot of the driving would be considered insane by British standards, and pedestrian crossing zones seem only a guideline, but everyone just muddles through and the drivers seem keen not to actually hit anyone, though they get quite close and honk just to let you know they're there. Bicycles have a whole lane to themselves on the major roads. All the bikes are very business-like, dusty with large baskets in front. The definition of 'bicycle' for the purpose of bike lanes seems to include every type of motorised bike up to and including motorbike. No-one wears helmets, and our taxi didn't have anything for our seatbelts to click into.
The taxi-driver found our hotel by ringing up his office, and the staff were wonderfully polite. We were given a free upgrade and all our bags were taken up for us. For reasons unknown we were given a free upgrade to
Day view
View from our hotel window, day. an executive room, which is frankly gorgeous. The bed is so vast I can hardly find Chris, and the view out the window is fantastic. Photo of the view, night and day, and the hotel lobby will hopefully appear below.
We were determined to shake off the jetlag by staying awake until decent local time. By now it was about 6.30pm. We went along Jinbaojie onto Wangbujing Dajie which is a main shopping, eating and generally promenading street. Quan ju de resturant was recommended by the concierge and would have given us authentic peking duck, but had too long a wait. We wandered instead into the food court of a large mall and found a 'hotpot' restuarant called He Wei Wei which did us our first chinese meal.
Hot pots: A pot about the size of a pressure-cooker was set in front of our plates, on a heater under the counter. One orders dishes which arrive uncooked. One dunks them in the hot pot to cook them, dips them in the spicy bean sauce, and enjoys. Our selections were probably eclectic by chinese standards; we had beef, prawns, kelp, and mushrooms. The menu offered five kinds of tripe,
Night view
View from our hotel window, night. which we weren't brave enough go for.
We got back to the hotel and back to bed at about 10pm, and decided not to set the alarm clock. Fell asleep just fine on the Bed of Gigantitude. Woke up at 3.40 feeling very awake. Worried wouldn't get back to sleep. Fell asleep again. Next thing we know the phone's ringing, it's reception asking if they can come in and clean our room today. It's 2.15pm... so much for aligning ourselves to China time!
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TomKate
non-member comment
Congratulations on arriving in one piece, will put a note on lj if no one else has. Your fish are safe and say hello. Good luck.