C O N T E N T S

 Cab Hassles [Mar 15th 1995]

Once we were fully packed we caught a taxi, in a roundabout way, to the CITS office to collect some tickets. The taxi driver insisted on taking a completely convoluted route and at one stage began to slow down ready to drop us off when it was obvious we were nowhere near the office. Once we’d finally arrived the cab fare was 30 Yuan but we only had a fifty and the driver insisted he had no change. Had it not been for the help of a passer by who split the money for us, we would have been ripped off (certainly ripped off from the point of view of a cheapskate backpacker anyway). We then picked up our Trans-Manchurian tickets which was simply a case of taking a lift to the 7^th floor and collecting them from the bloke mentioned in our letter – all surprisingly easy.

Next we took another cab, this time to the Peace Hotel, where we were hoping to leave our bags for the night. Our route took us via Tiananmen Square which was a slightly peculiar almost spooky experience. Seeing it for the first time made both of us feel quite emotional, I was subconsciously playing snippets of news footage in my head as we passed the square.

Once we’d left our luggage at the hotel we desperately needed something to eat so tried a pot luck approach by simply wandering into a good looking restaurant. The menu was all in Chinese (no surprises there) and we were just about to resort to pointing at another table for our choice of dish when a member of staff produced a piece of paper with some English on it. Among the items listed on the scrappy post-it note were things like penis and testicles from various animals. We ordered some meat and dim-sum and it all arrived raw which kept us guessing for a few moments until we noticed what everyone else was doing. The restaurant was a cook-it-yourself affair so after a waitress had filled a pot in the middle of the table with boiling water then turned on a gas heater we dived in. The whole thing was like a fondue and was absolutely gorgeous, easily the best meal we’ve had in China so far. With our bellies filled it was time to head for The Great Wall.

We walked to the train station and attempted to buy a fare by simply pointing to the translated word ‘ticket’ in out guide book. Some confusion arose but I’m not sure on who’s part – either the woman behind the counter was confused with out request or we were confused as to what she was trying to tell us. No matter… the one thing I’m certain about was the existence of ‘confusion’ and it wasn’t helping. We eventually ended up at the foreign ticket counter only to discover there were no more trains to Badaling to see the Great Wall. A brief ‘what shall we do now’ discussion ensued resulting in us really pushing out the back-packer boat and opting for our third taxi of the day. A little decadence to reach our destination.

We’d negotiated a 200 Yuan fee for the 70k ride but on arrival the driver and his friend tried to rip us off… there seemed to be a common theme evolving. Even though the meter displayed 170 Yuan, they pressed a few buttons until a new figure of 400 appeared. We resorted to the tactic of shouting loudly and looking pissed off and since the driver was completely reluctant to accept the negotiated 200 Yuan I eventually shoved it in his jacket then walked away. This prompted him to administer me a weighty shove in the back at which point I was about to give him another gob-full when Jayne’s calming influence intervened. The phrase “leave it” probably helped me avoid any further unnecessary hassle.

So here we were, at last, the Great Wall of China. There was an entry fee to get to the top of the wall but since everyone appeared to be leaving and business was closing for the day we both just walked past the ticket booth without any protests. Actually, in truth, we didn’t even notice there was a ticket booth until we’d walked past it and on to the wall.

What can I say about my first impressions of the Great Wall? - ‘Big’ – it is huge, or rather ‘long’ and wherever you looked it appeared to be snaking over a distant hill. We walked for a couple of kilometres until we came to an un-restored part of the wall - to reach it involved climbing down from the last piece of restored wall and then treading carefully until we found an old guard house with a roof. This was to be our bed for the night. We made a quick cuppa then some noodles and settled down to a cold night’s sleep amongst the ancient arched doors.

 Brass Monkeys [Mar 16th 1995]

Last night was easily one of the coldest nights of my life. I think I’ve only ever been colder during a night in a tent while taking part in a mountain biking competition in Scotland – but that thought didn’t make the night any more comfortable. Between us we managed very little sleep, in fact hardly any at all. It transpired that we were both having the same thoughts throughout the night which was mainly,

‘What the hell are we doing here?’

Throughout the night there were occasional noises that caused a sort of muted consternation between us (didn’t I read something in the Lonely Planet guide about bears living here?) At one stage it started snowing and then the horrendous, biting wind started whistling through us. Although we weren’t completely frozen it was an extremely rough night. Neither of us could feel our toes and no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn't get comfortable. At one stage Jayne said,

“I just want this night to be over” – I was wishing for the same thing.

Thankfully, it soon was… I got up at what I thought was 3:00am to go to the toilet only to discover it was 7:00am! Maybe we’d managed more sleep than we thought but it was difficult to tell, we were both a little delirious not to mention bitterly cold. We snoozed a bit longer then climbed out of our bags to be greeted by a countryside blanketed in snow. Packing up took ages mainly because we were both so cold and our hands were uncontrollably quivering. Having packed up the best we could, we walked back along the wall to the entrance. We’d decided that we’d well and truly done the Great Wall and now we were both craving the warmth of a hotel room.

Jayne managed to find a cab for 200 Yuan and this time there were no arguments when we reached our destination. After signing in to the Peace Hotel we got everything washed and cleaned and I settled down to a nice hot bath – the first such hot bath I’d managed in the last six months.

For our evening meal we went to a restaurant in the hotel which was a bit of a budget-backpacker mistake because it cost 600 Yuan! Still, one can easily justify these little snatches of luxury after such a rough night, and besides the food was very nice. Tomorrow I think we’ll find food outside the hotel walls.

I’d managed to fill myself in with a few beers, sake, whiskey and brandy so was feeling a little bit woozy by the end of the evening. Mum, dad, Caroline and Daniel rang at about 12:30. It was great to hear their voices - they were about to tuck into a meal and all sounded well.