Beijing - Thailand

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Hi Guys,

Sorry its taken so long to update but we're on the islands in the south of Thailand now so its hard to find decent internet which doesnt cost an arm and a leg!! so here's the update.

China - Beijing

Well after the Great wall we booked our flights to Bangkok, having enough of the cold and wanting some sunshine! We had 3 days left in Beijing before our flight on the 21st Feb.

On the first day we followed a walking tour from our guide book around Beijing looking at all the smaller alleyways and hutongs (which are getting knocked down for the olympics at the moment) and walked around the moat of the Forbidden City. We eventually arrived at Jingshan Park which has a massive hill made from the mud taken out of the City moat, the view from the top was stunning you could see all over Beijing and especially the Forbidden City. When we arrived back at the hostel our friends were organising a night out. Obviously we didnt say no!

The next day we met up with a few friends and went to the Summer Palace. It was pretty similar to the Forbidden City in terms of the buildings and decoration but there was a massive lake which had little islands you could go to and loads of Chinese style humpback bridges. It was really pretty and the weather was brilliant as well which helped. We caught the bus there and back and the driver was a complete maniac!!! But it was cheap.

On our last day we just hung round the hostel playing pool and went out for Beijing duck, i was a bit dissapointed as it tasted exactly the same as it does in England but was fattier! Thats the thing with chinese its either no meat or fatty meat! Still we got to the airport with plenty of time (although it took us a while to find the shuttle bus there) and got on the plane nice and early. We were surprised at the size and lack of facilities at Beijing airport though what with the olympics coming up.

After a 5 hour flight in which Nick managed to blag 2 meals we finally arrived in Bangkok! YAY! 28 degrees at midnight we were dreading how hot it was going to be during the day. We got a taxi to Khao San road (the main backpacker ghetto) and walked down to try and find a hostel. Although it was 2am it was funny to see that there were still loads of people up and lots of western men with thai women! We found a cheap place to stay although the facilities were awful (no toilet, shower or fan) we were just happy to have a bed for the night.

The next day we woke up to some load music coming from a tanoy right outside our window! GREAT! it was a lovely sunny day and about 29-30degrees. Once we were up we found a better hostel for a few quid which had attached bathroom and air-con. We walked around Bangkok just getting our bearings and wound up by the river. We decided to catch the Chao Phraya Express back up the river to our hostel. The breeze was lovely and the views really nice.

We deciced to leave the Palace and Emerald Buddha for another time as Bangkok is a main stop for most long haul journeys but went to see the reclining buddha at Wat Po. It was absolutely massive and really intricately decorated. After only 3 days in Bangkok we decided we wanted to head for the beaches down south so booked our tickets for Ko Phangan.

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