The Long Day

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Well if last night was an excess in sleeping late today is the opposite, as we have to crawl out of bed around five am to go pick up Kay at the Capital Airport. Not only are morning flights a nuisance when you have to take them yourself, they're just as annoying when someone else does. It is a small price to pay for a full day's stay at the destination though, provided you arrive in a relatively relaxed state. Joanne and I jump into a taxi and speed off in the gloomy morning. Traffic is mercifully light. I manage to forget a glove in the backseat of the cab and before I can react it is long gone on new adventures.

Kay's flight is on time and before too long we can meet up in a happy reunion. Joanne commandeers a private vehicle outside the arrival hall and haggles for the journey back to the flat, and off we speed at disturbing speed. Back at the flat we drop off the bags and start making some plans for the day when suddenly Kay starts shouting for us to come look at the window. It has begun to snow. For once the timing is excellent and Kay is all excited about going outside to experience it first hand for the very first time. The snowfall is enough to create a thin blanket of snow in the streets, and the temperature is uncomfortably chilly. We move on to a local restaurant that is just preparing to opening and have a great tasting noodle soup, being the only guests except the eating staff.

After brunch it has stopped snowing and we ask Kay if she's still interested in going to the Summer Palace, and then head north to the nearby ring road to grab a taxi. The drive is a good illustration of the size of the city as it seems to go on forever, and I suddenly find myself talking to myself as my companions have both dozed off to sleep. The arrival at the cold palace gardens is a definitive wake up call though. Entering the garden at the main Eastern gate we walk past some smaller buildings including the Hall of Benevlonece and Longevity, guarded by bronze statues of legendary beasts and move towards a pavillion at the beach of the frozen Kunming Hu lake. I am beginning to wonder if that was it when suddenly I have better look around to see just the size of the lake, and the fact that there are buildings scattered around it, including the massives structures to the north on Longevity Hill.

We start walking south along the lake to reach Nanhu Dao, the South Lake Island, which is connected by a very beautiful arched stone bridge. Wondering where to go from here there seem to be two options, the long walk back or an shortcut over the frozen lake. A lot of people are out walking on the ice but seeing as the water is open at several places I feel a bit skeptical about it but agree to try it out. besides the fact that the ice is uneven and extremely slippery under the snow it seems ok. Still it is a long way to cross to the other side so we decide to head back to safer ground. Just as we reach the shore of Nanhu Dao again there is a loud crack in the ice which freaks the ladies out completely. We then walk back to the starting point and stop over at a small coffee shop to recover a bit from the cold before continuing.

Back at the eastern gate we turn west towards the major structures on Longevity Hill. To reach them you walk along the northern shore through Chang Lang, the long corridor, which is just that, a very long path leading past the bigger temples on the hills. Unfortunately Paiyun Dian, the Cloud Dispersing Hall is covered in scaffolding for restoration and more buildings around it are sealed off for what seems to be restoration work. What this area does have though is a number of the major souvenir shops, which at least offer a good opportunity to get inside and warm up a bit. There are not so many visitors around, no doubt the palace is a better destination in summertime. Walking past the boathouses and the big marble boat we begin to feel rather content and decide to head for the exit. Instead of backtracking though we take the footpath leading southeast which turns out to be a big detour. It is a narrow walkway dividing the lake in two, very beautiful and peaceful, but oh so long. And once, you've started the walk you have little choice but to follow it through. We encounter virtually no other people in this part of the park, and the winter silence effectively muffles the sounds from the big city creating a nice little world of our own. Occasionally the path leads up to a small pavillion or some very steep arched bridges, and at one place there are three eerie temples staring at us with gloomy eyes. When we finally spot the outer wall of the park and the distant sounds and sights of cars we get excited to flee the cold and snow for something warm and cozy. We exit the park and jump on the first bus going south.

The bus is soon crowded and continues south and drops us off in the vicinity of the metro which we jump aboard to travel to the east of the city. Joanne takes us to a western style café where we find some couches to sit down and relax from our ordeal. We start to think about where to go for dinner in the evening, and I suggest an Indian place we've been to before. Kay contacts a friend of hers who is also staying in town and we decide to meet near the place later in the evening. For now though we decide to go back to the flat before going out again. We grab a cab and continue our circular move around the the city, this time going norhteast. The ringroad is jampacked and it takes ages moving forward. This is the typical situation to experience one of my worst fears when travelling; the ill-timed urge to visit the restroom. That's what you get for drining too much chocolate...

Few things are as stressing and annoying as being restlessly stuck inside a vehicle unable to stop and moving forward at a pace that would make a glacier seem speedy. As I complain about my preoccupation to Joanne I get a reply and a rather tense look in return, apparently I am not alone to share this fun. The more the merrier as they say... After finally crawling off the ringroad and getting back to the apartment we are soon healed of our distress and can again focus on the rest of the world around us. Truns out the taxi ride ate up most of the free time we had and it is now time to go downtown to meet up with Kay's friend Michael. We go out again and grab yet another taxi and jump off near the Drum Tower. When Michael shows up we head to the Indian restaurant only to be told that the enitre place has been booked by some company. Robbed of a nice Indian dinner we walk around the area towards Houhai lake and finally end up at a Cantonese restaurant, Otto's Place, which is also crowded but we manage to get a table after a short wait.

We order in a number of dishes, fried fish, more duck tongues, tofu, vegetables, fish ball soup and so on. The food is tasty even though the place isn't really that special. After dinner we head to some bar frequented by a lot of French expats to count down for the New Year. The urge to sleep from the long day is slowly starting to catch uo with us and we depart in the small hours for the final taxi transfer of the day. Back at the flat I quickly drag out my dog mattress and collapse on the floor. Mmmmm... sleeeeeep...

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Photos

A view of Joanne's neighbourhood
The first snow is falling...

Noodles for brunch
You can't go wrong with noodles!

Dong Feng EQ1112F6D
By now I don't need excuses to throw in some lorries in the blog, do I?

Temples on Longevity Hill
The Cloud Dispelling Hall dominates the skyline

The Long March
Once we started down this path we were committed.

Strolling on the lake
The Cloud Dispelling Hall dominates Longevity Hill