And so we begin our final day in Thailand. In the morning we walked with a few friends to the malls in the city center to try to do some souvenir shopping, more importantly I was on a search for some more papaya sticky rice before my return! We shopped and Found some delicious sticky rice and I tried some tuna and crab sushi at the mall which was delicious and different. They put the rice on the bottom, toppings on top of the rice, then wrap it in the seaweed wrap, much smarter than the normal roll! We then ate dinner at a restaurant by the hotel, ordering some delicious red curry, and a spicy seafood salad which I ordered - pet nit noi - or just a little spicy. But let me tell youuuu it was HOT! Incredibly yummy, but I was sweating hardcore, and tearing while eating it and demolishing water. Arroy mak - very tasty! Then we boarded the bus at 8pm to drive to Bangkok for our 1am flight. We awoke in Beijing at 630am and were fortunate to get a 24hour permit or visa to China so we could leave the airport and enter the country during our 6 hour layover.
A large group of us, about 12 decided to brave this quick drop in to the city center. We exchanged our money for yuan (which was a fiasco as Nick had accidently received japanese yen from our baht in thailand instead of yuan) then we boarded the airport metro that was built for the Beijing olympics and connected or to the city subway to arrive at Tiannenmen east stop, where Tiannenmen Square and the Forbidden City is located.
Let me just say, entering the most populated city was crazy. Lucky for us it was so early in the morning, because it just got crazier as the day progressed. The masses of people, and the difference in culture was immediately distinguishable. They are forceful people, used to pushing their way through. Things we view as courtesy are not the same, you have to be very aggressive, puts New Yorkers to shame! Luckily English translations are everywhere. The subway announcements were in Chinese and English which was fortune for us. So we exited the subway and entered the forbidden city. Which just in recent years became open to the public, not even Chinese citizens were allowed inside. It is the largest preserved palace in the world. And it is massive. We thought the entrance was the site, we bought tickets and entered the outer walls to see the true vast extent of the palace grounds. It was drizzling and murky out, which only added to air of awe and mystery if this place. The color red of communism was everywhere and a massive picture of Mao Zedong towered over the entrance. Incredible to think we were actually in Beijing at the moment, and knowing we couldn't miss our flight or else we'd have some serious issues (there's only one flight out of Beijing a day to US, and missing our flight would mean overstaying our 24 hour visa which would put us in a rather bad situation with the Chinese government). Entering the palace grounds I just felt an incredible sense of disbelief, these are pictures I have grown up seeing in textbooks, while learning about the Ming dynasty and all the rulers and dynasties that resided in these walls. After exploring for an hour and a half and seeing the ornate kings throne we headed back to be safe rather than sorry to make our next flight. That journey back was rough. Feeling jet lagged and sleep deprived.. Definitely passed out on our next flight to LAX, incredibly happy and satisfied we used those hours to see something incredible instead of playing it safe and regretting not taking the opportunity.
Following our landing in LAX, we missed our connecting flight home to DC, due to fog that delayed our takeoff in Beijing. Alaska only has one flight a day, so had to wait until Monday for the next flight. Passed out for a good 12 hours and am now finally headed home to Virginia.. When we missed our flight, it almost soured our entire trip, feeling at our breaking point with exhaustion and jet lag from our 30 some hour day that seemed would never end and starting to remember and feel the pressures of everyday obligations settling back in with work and such. But we brightened up, just got a hotel room, ate some American food we had been craving, and thought "Mai Pen Rai" from Thailand. What an amazing trip, and worth every effort
A large group of us, about 12 decided to brave this quick drop in to the city center. We exchanged our money for yuan (which was a fiasco as Nick had accidently received japanese yen from our baht in thailand instead of yuan) then we boarded the airport metro that was built for the Beijing olympics and connected or to the city subway to arrive at Tiannenmen east stop, where Tiannenmen Square and the Forbidden City is located.
Let me just say, entering the most populated city was crazy. Lucky for us it was so early in the morning, because it just got crazier as the day progressed. The masses of people, and the difference in culture was immediately distinguishable. They are forceful people, used to pushing their way through. Things we view as courtesy are not the same, you have to be very aggressive, puts New Yorkers to shame! Luckily English translations are everywhere. The subway announcements were in Chinese and English which was fortune for us. So we exited the subway and entered the forbidden city. Which just in recent years became open to the public, not even Chinese citizens were allowed inside. It is the largest preserved palace in the world. And it is massive. We thought the entrance was the site, we bought tickets and entered the outer walls to see the true vast extent of the palace grounds. It was drizzling and murky out, which only added to air of awe and mystery if this place. The color red of communism was everywhere and a massive picture of Mao Zedong towered over the entrance. Incredible to think we were actually in Beijing at the moment, and knowing we couldn't miss our flight or else we'd have some serious issues (there's only one flight out of Beijing a day to US, and missing our flight would mean overstaying our 24 hour visa which would put us in a rather bad situation with the Chinese government). Entering the palace grounds I just felt an incredible sense of disbelief, these are pictures I have grown up seeing in textbooks, while learning about the Ming dynasty and all the rulers and dynasties that resided in these walls. After exploring for an hour and a half and seeing the ornate kings throne we headed back to be safe rather than sorry to make our next flight. That journey back was rough. Feeling jet lagged and sleep deprived.. Definitely passed out on our next flight to LAX, incredibly happy and satisfied we used those hours to see something incredible instead of playing it safe and regretting not taking the opportunity.
Following our landing in LAX, we missed our connecting flight home to DC, due to fog that delayed our takeoff in Beijing. Alaska only has one flight a day, so had to wait until Monday for the next flight. Passed out for a good 12 hours and am now finally headed home to Virginia.. When we missed our flight, it almost soured our entire trip, feeling at our breaking point with exhaustion and jet lag from our 30 some hour day that seemed would never end and starting to remember and feel the pressures of everyday obligations settling back in with work and such. But we brightened up, just got a hotel room, ate some American food we had been craving, and thought "Mai Pen Rai" from Thailand. What an amazing trip, and worth every effort
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