Beijing was like a totally different country compared to south-west china: Signs were in Chinese and English, the subway voice spoke to you in English, there were tonnes of foreigners and every other person spoke English. So easy to get around…I didn’t have to get out my Chinese phrasebook once! I am actually glad I started in the south and ended in Beijing, because if I went the other way I think I would have been totally unprepared and lost…
Hostels were literally 3-4x’s more expensive in Beijing, so I decided to try out couchsufing! I stayed on the futon of a guy named Jeff from Montreal who had been living in China for over 5 years teaching at a few different universities. He lived in an apartment in a building around the corner from the subway with his girlfriend from France and a roommate from Spain. It was cool to get the inside view on China from a foreigner…we chatted over dinners about Chinese culture, teaching, tv and censorship (the guy from spain works producing tv in Beijing).The couch I slept on at Jeff's... (it pulled out)
Every week Jeff arranges a trip to the Great Wall for couchsurfers, which I went on and it was awesome! We hiked 10km of the wall that people don’t usually go to, so for most of the time it was just us and incredible scenery...miles and miles of unspoiled nature with the wall snaking on over the hills as far as you could see. I had been getting pretty burnt out of sight seeing, but the great wall was really something special. If I go back to China I will go see it again for sure. I also did the mandatory Forbidden City tour, checked out the Summer Palace, Tiannemen square and the Lama Temple.
It was odd visiting the Lama temple after visiting the Tibetan temples in Shangri-La that were so open and unrestricted….in the Lama the statues and pictures were roped off so you could barely see them and everything else was under glass protection. Guards were at the doors, no pictures and no incense allowed to be burned inside the buildings (people laid the incense infront of the statues unlit….fire hazard), signs everywhere saying no doing this and that. And weird that everyone was just looking and no one praying. The monks were wearing designer shoes….
I arrived late Monday in Toronto and since have been trying to shake my jet lag while visiting with family, friends and re-connecting my life. My phone is set up again (same number as before) and Im trying to figure out buying a car and insurance and a place to live in canmore. The first thing I did when I got back was stop off at Licks for a fully loaded veggie burger (yum!) which I washed down with a big glass of water…from the tap! Ive also been eating chocolate and cheese like they’ve been going out of style LOL
Even after only a few days, Im surprised how much I miss asia…I actually went to an asian grocery store and stood in one of the aisles smiling because all the packaged foods were familiar.
So I guess is my official last Asian post! When I set up this blog, I thought my posts would be more like a bunch of travel articles; writing about culture, experiences, events, the sights and smells of asia…. but somewhere along the way (well…I guess right from the start) it turned more into an online diary LOL. I thought only my dad and a couple friends were reading it, but since Ive been back Ive found out quite a few people have been following it! So…although this is the last post about asia, it is not the end: I have decided to keep the blog going for my next adventure! I am driving out to Canmore, Alberta the end of May to work as a raft guide. Its not as exciting as backpacking solo thru asia, but Im sure there will be interesting stories….
So thanks for following along! Take a peek again in June to read about my cross-country car trip and raft guide training :)
Cheers,
I arrived late Monday in Toronto and since have been trying to shake my jet lag while visiting with family, friends and re-connecting my life. My phone is set up again (same number as before) and Im trying to figure out buying a car and insurance and a place to live in canmore. The first thing I did when I got back was stop off at Licks for a fully loaded veggie burger (yum!) which I washed down with a big glass of water…from the tap! Ive also been eating chocolate and cheese like they’ve been going out of style LOL
Even after only a few days, Im surprised how much I miss asia…I actually went to an asian grocery store and stood in one of the aisles smiling because all the packaged foods were familiar.
So I guess is my official last Asian post! When I set up this blog, I thought my posts would be more like a bunch of travel articles; writing about culture, experiences, events, the sights and smells of asia…. but somewhere along the way (well…I guess right from the start) it turned more into an online diary LOL. I thought only my dad and a couple friends were reading it, but since Ive been back Ive found out quite a few people have been following it! So…although this is the last post about asia, it is not the end: I have decided to keep the blog going for my next adventure! I am driving out to Canmore, Alberta the end of May to work as a raft guide. Its not as exciting as backpacking solo thru asia, but Im sure there will be interesting stories….
So thanks for following along! Take a peek again in June to read about my cross-country car trip and raft guide training :)
Cheers,
Anna
