Day 4 - Forbidden City, imperial Palace

One of Many Palace Halls

Friday, June 13, 2014.

 A pall of haze hung over the city at dawn. The sun shone orange red. When we left the hotel at 7:30, the air temperature was already warm. Our goal today was to visit the Forbidden City, historical imperial palace of the Emperor and then if we were still game we wanted to go to the summer palace.

I can't begin to describe the vastness of the Forbidden city. It is surrounded by a huge moat and there are numerous grand halls each flanked by gates, walls, verandas, terraces, and massive parade grounds. The palace grounds seemed to go on forever. We were exploring for several hours. By the time lunch rolled around, we were hot, sweaty, and not interested in anything more for the day.

Forbidden City Gardens and Moat

Sculpted Sea Staircase

Bronze Age Artifacts

Empress's Courtyard

After a lunch break at a Starbucks, we headed back to the hotel where we are enjoying the air conditioning and watching World Cup soccer, BBC News, and golf in our room. We clocked in another 6 miles on the pedometer. In the early evening we will meet up with our Silk Road Odyssey Tour Group. We checkout tomorrow and take an overnight train to Xian after some local touring in Beijing.

All is Well With the Worrall Travel R's

Day 3 - Where the Great Wall Begins

June 12, 2014

We were up at 4:45 this morning and in the lobby for pickup by 5:30.  We had arranged a trip on the bullet train from Beijing to  Shanhaiguan.  We were met by a young woman Tracy and a driver who transported to the train station.  The young man driver smiled at us and gleefully told Tracy that he had seen us walking around the day before!  Imagine that in a city of 2,000 million people.  We must have been more of a novelty that we thought.

The Beijing train station is very grand and modern. We (Russ, I, and our guide) threaded our way past the ticket checker and passed through security screening (xray belts for bags, and wanding of our bodies).  I thought at first we were stepping a scale and they were weighing us, but I think it was a metal box that was checking our shoes, or perhaps it was weighing us. Not altogether sure.

As we got on the escalator going up to the second floor, a nicely dress woman with rolling bag and hands full with fan, purse, and other bag stepped on before us.  We were a few steps behind.  Before the rising steps had leveled out, the woman got tripped up and fell down on the escalator, rolling back down as the the escalator ascended.  I thought I was going to be bowled over as I was next in line.  Fortunately, as I did not have any luggage on this day trip, I was able to help break her roll.  The escalator was stopped.  I helped to her feet and gather her belongings.  A safety officer was now right be me and took over.  Fortunately, other than her pride, the woman appeared unwounded by the nasty fall, not even a run in her stockings.  Amazing.

Our guide positioned us in the correct waiting area and gave us last minute instructions be fore she left us on our own.  She told us to get in line early as it would be crowded.  It was wonderful having a guide take us to the correct waiting area and explain the Chinese on the ticket.  We were to board car 15 and look for reserved seats 7D and 7F.

It was now 6:15.  Russ decided to get an orange juice at the McDonalds restaurant back down the hall way.  About 2 minutes after he left, there was an announcement of which I did not understand except that the entire hall of people stood up and started queuing for the turn styles. I  gathered up my day pack and Russ's and headed for the turn style, hoping Russ would return before I had to step aside and let the throng of people behind engulfed me.  There were a mass of people in front of me and an even bigger mass behind.  We weren't moving.  Fortunately, Russ was quite distinctive returning towering above most of the Chinese people behind me.  I opened up our red and white Canadian umbrella so that he could find me.  In no time he was at my side, just as the line began to move.

We negotiated our way through a long thin entrance gate which will present a bit of a problem for us if we come this way again with our luggage on Saturday night headed for Xian.  Russ usually carries his second bag cross wise over his rolling bag which will be too wide.  My two rolling bags one in each hand will not trail through as they too will be too wide.  Now I know why many of the Chinese have the slim line spinner bags.  We have a few days to think about how we will manage our entrance.  We boarded the train D29 at 6:30, and the train departed promptly at 7:00 a.m.   We are in a nicely appointed, 2nd class car with air conditioning.

Our train is currently traveling at 120 miles per hour on a smooth, quiet rail.  Smartly dressed rail attendants (young women) checked our tickets and worked the snack area.  Russ took a walk to see if he could get a cup of coffee for me.  He came back with a a little cup and a packet of instant powder that looked like a mixture of coffee and milk.  At the front of each car there is a hot water.

There is a single young Chinese man sitting in the seats across from us.  He filled his large noodle bowl with the hot water and proceeded to slurp out his breakfast.  A little bit later, he pulled out a little jar with some water and some little swimming red and black fish.  He took the jar to the hot water tap and filled it to the top and shook it.  Some of the fish dropped immediately to the bottom. Some still swam.  He shook it a few times and stowed the jar in the seat pocket in front of him while he took of his shoes, laid down and took a nap.  I think this may be his mid-morning  protein break.  Probably better than a Red Bull.   Poor little fish.

In a little while we will be getting of the train and will be met by our day guide will meet us and will be taken to Jiaoshan to the first mountain peak of the Great Wall from Shanhaiguan.   This will be our first peek of the Great Wall.  This section of the wall was built during the reign of Emperor Hongwu (1328-1398) of the Ming Dynasty, and extends about 1500 meters.  We will take a chair lift to the top and hike down the precipitous stretch.  Hopefully it will prove less exciting than this morning's escalator incidence.

On Our Way Back to Beijing

It is 6:30 and we are on the train heading back to Beijing, drinking beer and eating pretzels.  

We arrived in ShenHaiGuan at 9:34 and were met by our guide Steven and a driver.  Steven works part time for the tour company.  He lived in the US for five years and spoke excellent English.  He now owns and operates an import-export company, but enjoys working part-time when his schedule permits as a tour guide.  I think too, he needs the money.

China is an expensive place to live and the customs of the country dictate huge financial reciprocity to friends and family to help pay for weddings, funerals, and graduation parties.  In the next two months Steven has been invited to three weddings.  As a guest, he is expected to pay the grooms father, between 500-1000 yuan or approximately $90-$250 dollars (twice that much if the father is your superior (boss).  Many people are invited to the wedding and the proceeds from guests usually exceed the  wedding expense, so the father of the groom comes out ahead financially, but then in turn must reciprocate back to all of his family and friends as they finance their celebrations.  The brides father apparently does not receive any of the celebration money.  Guests do not bring gifts to the couple, only money to the groom's fatther.

Wedding Couple - Great Wall Portrait

Steven has one son who is 8 years old. China is a one-child only country.  Couples with more than one child are financially punished.   Recently China has  loosened it's restrictions to allow two single children to marry and produce two children.  It is children's unwritten cultural tradition to be raised by their grandparents while the parents work.  Since there are two sets of grandparents, each grandparent set with a single adult child, then gets to raise a grandchild (day time child care).  Multi-generational families are becoming a historic relic as young people move away from home.  Aging parents and grandparents do not have family to take care of or care for them in their old age.  The government is trying to develop some viable alternatives to elder care.   I am not sure that relaxing the 1 child per family rule is going to take care of extended family reinforcement.

At any rate learning from our guide about Chinese traditions in addition to seeing the Great Wall in three different places made for a wonderful day.  

Stop number 1 was the Great Wall raising high upon the mountain.  We took a tram to the tope and hiked down the wall.  What a thrill!  This is the oldest section of the wall and  although it is quite steep, is still in excellent original condition.  This part of the wall was designed to stop Mongol invaders.

A Steep Climb

Stop number 2 was a buffet, bar-b-que, all you could eat lunch.  We tried the Peking duck, along with dumplings and numerous other dishes.  We brought raw meat to our table and grilled it right at the table.  We even tried Chinese white wine.....whoooeeee, like white whisky...very strong.  One sip did it for me.

Stop number 3 was the First Pass Under Heaven.  The Great Wall actually begins at the sea and works its way up the mountainside (stop 1).  Before it reaches the mountain as a single it works its way around a city compound with five gates.  The First Pass Under Heaven or the first gate comes up from the sea.  Passer throughs came past the moat, and through one gate into a large courtyard with an exit gate.  If you were friendly, you were let into the walled city.  If you were not, both gates were closed and  you were captured in the courtyard.  Soldiers standing on top of the wall used the  unfriendly passer throughs as target practice, and they never made it to the inner gates.

Good Luck Holding a Child

Stop number 4 was where the Great Wall begins, 20 meters into the sea.  This part of the wall was designed to stop Japanese invaders and those who would come by sea.  It was invigorating to feel the cool sea air and smell the sea.  The wall is in a calm and protected bay, infrequently disturbed by storms.

Stop number 5 was the Temple of the Sea God.  This is actually a Buddhist temple in addition to a tribute to a more ancient God of the Sea that provided fish and sea creatures to eat.

Stop number 6 was a quick stop in a reconstructed ancient city that was lovely with traditional architecture.

The day was great and we survived the steep hike down the wall although, I did get a blister on my left foot which I have already cleaned and bandaided with our trusty little hiking first aid kit.  Now we are on the last leg of our journey.  The sun has gone down and we are gliding back to Beijing.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs.

Day 2 - Beijing

End of Day 1:   Arrival in Beijing

First Leg of our Around the World Odyssey

June 9, 2014 - After one two hour layover in Vancouver, 5300 miles up to Alaska crossing over the Bering Sea and skirting down west of North Korea, two hot meals and a hot noodle snack, three movies, and sunshine all the way at 36,000 feet, we landed in Beijing on June 10 at 2;30 pm, approximately 11:30 pm PDST on June 9.   We passed through immigration, collected our bags (all arrived fine..such a relief), wove our way through throngs of ad hoc car-to-hotel services to the official taxi stand outside of the airport where we caught a cab with a meter and took a wild ride with cabbie another 40 minutes to our hotel, The Dongfang.  The meter cost us 140 Yuan RMBs (appoximately $28.00).  The ad hoc, no-meter-car services were charging 300-800 Yaun for the same service, quite a savings...and there were no long lines and waiting.

We checked in and were in our 11th story room by 5:30 where we rearranged our packs to that which actually accommodates day-to-day traveling rather than air flight restrictions, ate a light dinner in the hotel coffee shop, took showers and collapsed in our beds by 8:30.  It had been a 25 hour day!

Day  2

June 11, 2014 - Yep we lost a day as we traveled west over the international dateline.  This morning we woke around 5:30.  By the time we got ourselves together (wakeup showers, hot tea,  and BBC  TV news in English),  we went down to the hotel dining room for a very nice Eastern and Western breakfast buffet at 7:30.  We  spent  the rest of morning  and early part of the afternoon walking around the city, taking in the sights, sounds,  smell, and feel of the city.   The city is smoggy, but not as bad as we anticipated.  Our face masks are still packed away as we can see blue sky.

Ti'an ammen Square and Forbidden City (Palace Museum) were  bustling with  tourists,  most  of them from other  parts  of the country.  We got a kick out of being photographed by the Chinese tourists along with the other attractions.  One young  woman with a camera  ran ahead of us, her friend  joined us as if  she were walking with us.   When we realized what they were doing, we just stopped and posed with her.  Then we posed again when the girls exchanged places.  They were absolutely giddy with excitement and giggles.  Other tourists were a little less obvious.  As I  would be photographing a building, I could see others taking photos of us.  It was really funny.

We met a nice young woman, Annie, at the Forbidden City who was a licensed tour guide and calligrapher.  She spoke excellent English and was a teacher of English and calligraphy.  she took us into the university student art exhibit and explained the pictographs on the art work.  We wound up purchasing some student work and may return to Annie on Friday for a personal tour of the Forbidden city.

The city, especially around the government buildings, is under heavy security.  Soldiers, neatly dressed, looking like they were only 18 stood smartly in strategic locations watching the crowds for any signs of trouble.   Ti'an ammen square, Mao's Mausoleum, Forbidden city are cordoned off with railings.  Tourists must cross under the streets in subways and funnel through security.

Ladies and their parasols

We enjoyed meandering through allies and shops.  Of course we saw lots of stuff "made in China".  While in one of the shops, we heard some very loud crickets.  We followed the sound to find half a dozen of them, each in an individual spherical cage.  These were big crickets about 2 inches long.  We weren't sure whether these little Jimineys were being sold as good luck, bait, or a snack.  Poor little guys!  

We are now back at the hotel, resting up.  It is quite warm, and I think we will turn in again early tonight, after we transmit this post. Wifi is not as readily available as we thought it would be, and  when we do find it, it is incredibly slow and times out before anything loads.  It is frustrating an perhaps  intentional to restrict access.  Tomorrow, we are off by bullet train to Quinhuangdao Shanhaiguan for 2.5 hours to see where the Great Wall runs into the sea.

That's it for today.  All is well with Worrall Travel R's

Day 1 - San Francisco, June 8, 2014

We are spending the night close to the SFO Airport. No June gloom here today, sunny and in the low 80's. I packed away my jacket. It's in the upper 80's in Beijing. Up tomorrow morning at 4:30 am. It's an early flight to Beijing, via Vancouver, on Air Canada. Good Night!

Worrall Travel R Zzzzzzzzz

We're Gearing Up for the Asia-Europe Odyessy

The Chapters of our Lives - Time to Turn the Page

Now that our darling granddaughter Imogene has been safely delivered and happily opening a new chapter in our lives

Hello - Imogene, May 5, 2014, 8 pounds, 10 ounces

and my Dad's Celebration of Life Memorial and Commitment of both of my parents ashes at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery on May 30 has sadly closed a chapter in our lives,

Farewell Mom and Dad
LaVerne Ogden Monico (1927-2012) and Archie A. Monico, Jr. (1927-2014)                              In Our Hearts - Together Forever

Military Honors for Dad

Russ and I are turning our attention to our upcoming Around the World Odyssey, which is another new chapter of our Travel R Adventures.

Around the World Odyssey

We  begin  with an overland Silk Road Odyssey  by rail from Beijing, China to Russia.  From Russia, we will leave our Sundowner's tour group and visit the Baltics, working our way through Eastern Europe down to Croatia, Turkey, and Greece.  Part of our trip through Eastern Europe will be on a river cruise on the Danube River from Vienna to the Black Sea.

Planning for this trip has been quite an adventure unto itself.  There is all the administrative preparation that has to be done (passports, visas, travel insurance, health evacuation planning, transportation, money, global access clearance), transportation and accommodation planning,  and all the physical stuff that has to be done (immunizations, health checks, purchasing, packing, updating software, joining travel clubs, becoming trusted house sitters, downloading information).  Sailing with the wind on our own mode of transportation with no set dates was actually easier.

Administrative Stuff

All this preparation really takes the joy out of travel. And of course, there is a certain amount of anxiety as we head into countries that are on the fringe of hospitality and unrest.

To begin with, we needed to send in our passports for more pages as our previous travel had exhausted the pages. I'm almost thinking that a new passport would be thinner and lighter than the fat little books we are now carrying.   Then we needed Visas for China, Uzbekistan, Kzakhstan, and Russia, but we couldn't get them either too soon or submit them too late as it takes time for them to be sent to the appropriate consulates some of which are in Washington, D.C.  Since two of the visas required courier or in  person delivery, we chose to hire a visa company (CIBT)  in San Francisco who took care of these details.  Even with someone else doing the leg work, we still had to fill out these long applications that are apparently "just desserts" for Americans as we too ask this kind of information from citizens of these countries.  Fortunately, Russ has a whole lot more patience for paper work than I do.  The good news is, that we got word from the visa company that our visas had been approved, and we retrieved the passports this past Monday (1 week before departure).  

We had also applied for the Global Access (GOES), expedited customs and TSA precheck and received conditional approval pending and interview on the same Monday we traveled to San Francscio to pick up the passports. Unfortunately, we could only get on the calendar for an interview in August....hmmm, think we will be in Poland or Croatia.  Not good.  We had hoped to get this all taken care of before we left.  Approval allows us to go through TSA flight checks without having to take off half of our clothing and be expedited through customs upon our return to the US.


Russ had read online that sometimes there are no shows and cancellations at the Global Access Office located at San Francisco Airport.  After we picked up our passports, we decided to take BART to SFO and hangout and see if our patience to wait around would be rewarded with and interview.  We arrived at 11:30, and came face to face with a sign that said, "No Walk-In Appointments."  Not good. Mustering up our courage we went into the office and talked with officer in charge.  He said the schedule for the day was impossible, and he would not commit to anything.  We told him we were patient and would wait outside and check the online appointments to see if a cancellation showed up.

Lunch came and went as did scores of people in and out of the GOES office.  The actual appointments only lasted 10 minutes for any questions regarding the lengthy online application and electronic finger printing.  At 3:00, the officer we talked with came out and indicated he received a 3:15 cancellation for one person.  We decided Russ would take this first appointment.  He went in and came out in about 10 minutes.  Their only concern was our trip to Laos in 2013.  Russ told him it was part of an organized tour through S. E. Asia.

4:00.....5:00......5:30 (They close at 6:00)   One of the officers who had been calling names all day came out and motioned me into the office.  There had been a no-show, they were on schedule, and could interview me!  Whooppee!  I had my short interview, got finger printed, and am now approved.  It was a long day.  The GOES officers were very kind and accommodating and our patience was rewarded.  What is the saying?"Good things come to those who wait."  Americans are generally not very patient, but our travels to other countries and checkins have helped condition us to being patient.

Planning for Eastern Europe

One can no longer slap on the backpack and spend months on end in Europe.  Many of the countries in Europe have signed on to the Schengen agreement that allows freer access between participating countries, but it also means that non-Europeans, cannot stay in the entirety of the Schengen zone for more than 90 days during a 180 day (six month) period.  Some of these countries are a part of the EU, some are not.  Some new ones were added last year, some may be accepted this year.  So even what we know now may change.   The clock starts at entry, and stops upon exit.  You can go in and out of the Schengen Zone starting and stopping for 180 days (six months), but cannot be in the Schengen zone for more than 90 days.  I think there is a market here for an app.....Ha! Just looked it up and there is a Schengen calculator app.  We will have to give it a try.

We will enter the Shengen Zone in Finland, and as we zig and zag through eastern Europe we will be out of the Zone in Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Bosnia/Herzgovina,  Turkey and UK.  We will be in the Zone for Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungry, Solvakia, Austria, and Greece.  So in our planning we need to keep track of how many days we tally up in the Shengen Zone so that we don't over stay our welcome and don't short change ourselves at the end of the trip when we  hope to travel to Greece, and maybe Sicily.

Transportation and Accommodation in Eastern Europe.  

Once we are no longer on the Silk Odyssey Rail Adventure, we will need to start negotiating our own transportation.  At this point we are not making any plans until we get to Finland. Originally, we were going to assess our health and willingness to proceed on the rest of our adventure. However, that has changed a bit, as we have now signed up for Danube River Cruise from Vienna to the Black Sea and to Istanbul in early through late September.   So if we aren't feeling full of stamina our explorations between the two tours (rail through China and cruise down the Danube) may be more or less casual depending our state of being.  If we aren't able or unwilling to continue at any point after we get to Istanbul, we will buy a plane ticket home.  We currently only have a one way ticket to Beijing.

Our plan if not by rail or boat is to rent cars, take busses, and planes, and trains.  After considering our options, we have decided that a EurRail pass might not work well for us in the countries we plan to visit, so if we take the train it will be point to point.  Planes for short hops are not too expensive.  I looked up a flight from Prague to Split, Croatia today, and it was $159.00.  By train this might take a day or two, a lot of train changes, plus accommodations, and food.  Flying between places may be a more convenient and cost effective method of transportation.

In terms of accommodations, we will use primarily Airbnb, and maybe some hostels.  We have also joined SERVAS and hope to make some new friends through home stays.  We just signed up for TrustedHousesitters.com and are available as housesitters should the occasion arise.

PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE SOME OTHER SUGGESTIONS OR CONNECTIONS FOR ACCOMMODATIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOME STAYS.  

Our experience in traveling is not so much about the destination but about the journey and the people we meet along the way.  That is the real treasure of travel.  It's about Faces not Places.

Packing - Ugh!

Part of the adventure has been trying to think about what we can fit into the small rolling backpacks that we have decided to use.  It's really a problem for both of us with big feet.  Those shoes really take up a lot of space!

We have chosen to go light because we will be doing a lot of traveling and hauling of our own gear.  We don't want to spend time checking luggage or picking it up, but something we can carry on an keep with us at all times.

The backpacks we chose came from REI.  They have straps for carrying like a backpack, wheels to roll like luggage, and a detachable day pack (very small).  They looked pretty roomy until we (I should say I) started to pack it up.  And yes, three weeks out, and I was packed up.  Every few days, I assess what I can do without and reshuffle.  Our bathroom area is chaotic looking as I shuffle and sort.  Russ doesn't seem to have nearly the problem I do.  It must be those bottles of wrinkle remover cream, suntan lotion, sunscreen, big shoes (only two pair in the pack, one for hiking, and sandals).

I am taking two skirts, two summer dresses, two long pants, two short pants just below the knee, 5 tops, thermal underwear that will serve as pj's when they are not under my clothes, swimsuit, and some underwear.  Doesn't seem like much but it all takes up space because I have to leave room for the rain gear, sweater, jacket, routine medicines, emergency travel medications, eyeglasses, contact lenses, sleeping sack, towel, anti-bacterial wipes, and emergency rations like cups of soup, tea, coffee, granola bars...and a little teapot.

After our trip to Southeast Asia, Nepal, India, and Bhutan where the food was good but sometimes didn't agree with us, we were happy to have something we could trust eating, by boiling the water first.   Not all places had equipment to boil water and those that did were often circumspect in regards to cleanliness, so this time we are bringing a half liter electric teapot.  At least we will know that no one washed their socks  or underwear in it!  Crikey!

Oh an let's not forget the tech gear...camera, lenses, batteries, iPad, Airbook, Kindle, SAT phone, iPods, cords, chargers, converters.  How did we ever live without all of this stuff?

The airlines allow two carry-ons.  One you can stow overhead, and one you can stow under your seat.  The small detachable day pack is really too small for most of my personal items which include the medications, travel purse, and camera gear, so I will carry my trusty foldable backpack that will encompass both the day pack and these extra items, including jacket.

UPDATE

Unfortunately, we just couldn't get everything into the small rolling back pack, particularly the food supplies (cup of soup packets, oatmeal packets, tea, coffee, coffee mate, protein bars) and bottles larger the 3.4 oz (large bottles of allergy free contact lens solution, hand sanitizers, etc.) that will eventually be consumed.  Each of us will check on a small nylon duffle with the extra stuff that we hope will shrink and eventually disappear as we jettison and consume stuff we decide we really don't need.

If we could trust buying all of this stuff in China, we wouldn't have to pack it.  And, China may have all of this stuff, but we don't read or speak Chinese and only have a day or two in Beijing before we board our train.  So let's hope the check ons make  it okay!

We wil not be on the train the whole 28 days.  Nine of the nights are on the train, the other nights will be in guest houses, home stays, hotels, and yurts.  Frankly, I am not looking forward to the train if it is anything like what we experienced in India, and we are worried that it might be a bit rough.  But I guess we can live through anything for a couple of weeks......let's hope.

We may be reactivating our SPOT, and if we do so we will let you know so that you can follow our travel tracks in near real time, although in Krygyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan may not have good satellite coverage.  Our plan is to blog post when we have some Internet coverage, but it may be haphazard.

So that's about it for now.  Our heads are swimming with possibilities, probabilities, and promise.  We are looking forward to a new adventure.  In some ways, this is more daunting than sailing across the Pacific.  But it is time to leave the safe harbor behind and set off for new adventures.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs.