Lamas and Searching in Vain!

MONDAY 16th April

Today we finally arrived back in Beijing. The train journey wasn't too bad, I'm sure the train was noisier than last time and we also had the experience of sharing our cabin with 2 complete strangers. They were an 'older' Dutch couple, they were quite friendly and we sat and made small talk - we told them what Beijing was like and they told us what the South East of China is like etc etc. When it came to bed-time they were very liberal and got changed in the cabin (thankfully by this time I was tucked up in the top bunk pretending to try and sleep, whilst poor old Steve in the bottom bunk, well he got a bit of an eyeful)! We were soon making our way through the packed train station towards the taxi rank and being dropped off back outside the Feiying Hostel again (it seems some-what lacking since being in the luxury of the Lu Dao Hostel in Xi'an - but it will suffice for a few nights). After having a quick shower and chasing away all the bugs in our room, we headed out for the day. We first of all went to Prince Gong's Mansion and Gardens. We had a bit of a trek to get there from the subway station - around a 20 or 30 minute walk, we had some breakfast on the way a 'sausage roll' and a piece of really yummy carrot cake! Once we made it to the Hutong (small back-street alleys) though, we started to get lost and we were wandering for about another 15 minutes or so, constantly being pestered by Rickshaw drivers who wanted to take us on a tour of the Hutong - they really don't understand the phrase "no thank you!" Finally we managed to find it though, got our tickets and wandered in. It was a bit of a disappointment to be honest, it sounded as though it was going to be really breathtaking from the book, but it wasn't that great. Most of the attractions were closed off to us, as we were not part of a tour group! But we're getting used to things not being accessible, so we weren't too surprised! Once we'd wandered around a couple of times we headed out to a steamed dumpling shop, we'd seen on the way, for lunch - as usual there was lots of pointing and gesturing and confused Chinese staff! But we got our dumplings in the end (which were really nice), and filled with some renewed energy we went back into the streets to fight our way through the Rickshaw drivers again so that we could get to the Drum and Bell Towers. Unfortunately at each of the towers we had a very large number of very steep stairs to climb, so it was a bit of a wobbly-leg scenario as it was so steep, but we made it up! Unfortunately at the Drum tower we missed out on the drum-beating 'performance' as it was stopped during the lunch period. We decided to then go to Wangfujing Street again and we had a wander around the back streets there (which were absolutely packed full of souvenir stalls). Steve got himself a couple of long sleeved tops so that he can cover up whilst we're taking our malaria tablets (they make you more sensitive to the sun). We went to the Foreign Language Bookstore to grab a phrase book for when we're in Southeast Asia, but were very naughty and we each got ourselves a reading book as well (there are only so many times you can read the same things in a travel book) - so we ended up spending 285 Yuan! We stopped off to have a sit-down and a drink and were then heading back to the hostel to rest ourselves before dinner. We tried to order something which looked like spring rolls at dinner, but they were just weird things that were sweet and filled with 'congee' we think - very odd anyway! We also managed to order some cold slimy mushrooms - which verged on being gross!

TUESDAY 17th April

Today has been full of 'ups and downs'. We went to the Lama Temple first thing this morning. We couldn't believe how many people were there praying! Each of them had bags full to bursting with incense sticks, which they were burning in each of the many courtyards, so the air was thick with smoke and heavy with the scent of the incense! It was jam-packed, but we still managed to get a good look at everything, we really enjoyed our time at the Temple. The buildings were really beautiful - they had glazed yellow roof tiles which made it seem as though they were gold and seemed to give off light and heat as they glimmered in the bright sunlight. Also the Temple hasn't been restored quite as much as the others, it seems to have been maintained for worshippers, rather than being improved for the benefit of tourists. Once we made our way back to the exit, we decided to try and find the Confucius Temple nearby. However, our wandering and searching was fruitless, as we were unable to find it, despite having 2 maps - but to be honest we didn't look too hard, as we weren't that bothered about looking around it. So we headed off to the subway and tried to find the Universal Theatre to see about booking tickets to see some Chinese acrobatics. However, there didn't seem to be anyone around to talk to about tickets and the only advertisement for acrobatics we could see were far too expensive for us! So we decided to head off and find the Cow Street Mosque. It was a bit of a walk from the subway again, but doing all this walking means we get to see a lot more of real China, rather than missing it all because we're always getting taxis or being ferried around on tours! We stopped for lunch on the way to the Mosque in a little restaurant, we tried in vain to order some spring rolls again, but ended up with some weird stodgy rice thing! We were more successful in finding the Mosque than the Confucius Temple, but finding it didn't help us as it was closed! So we decided to try and find the Fauyan Temple which was nearby, but following the directions in the guide didn't help us and we couldn't find the Fauyan Temple either! Feeling a little dejected we decided to head back to the hostel, stopping for a sit-down in a pretty area of parkland on the way, with an ice-cream to cheer ourselves up! We're just about to head out to dinner now, we're going to go to a restaurant which does Peking Duck - I think Steve's quite excited as he's wanted to try some since we arrived!

Well, we think that's about it for now, we'll update you again in a couple of days. Thanks for all your comments, they make us smile lots - so keep them coming! Hope you're all well, take care!