The People's Republic of Food

Beijing is an assault on the senses, a culture shock in the truest sense of the word. Arriving by train into the centre of the city brings this swiftly home. People are just everywhere, throngs of people pushing, shoving, laughing, spitting, picking their noses; everywhere you go in the city you are accompanied by a seething mass of humanity. Perhaps related to this, everything feels big and sprawling. The roads are all at least six lanes wide, the train stations are as vast as airports, and boy do they love a big square in which people can gather and gawp in awe at the majestic greatness of the Republic. The cities feel spacious and generally more low rise, growing outwards rather than upwards as in Europe and America. Our time on trains and buses outside of the city indicates that this outward development is showing no signs of stopping either. Subtlety is not a Chinese trait; neon signs, strings of bright red lanterns, honking horns, blaring music and all this in a language that is as alien to Chris and I as can be. Luckily the Chinese are extremely friendly in the majority and a smile and a few gestures always seemed to do the trick even if they did roll their eyes and sigh at us and our painful attempts at Mandarin pronunciation.

Chris and I are not ones for seeing sights for sight's sake. Don't get me wrong, the Forbidden Palace is stunning, the Great Wall really is 'great' (in the words of Mary Hurd) and Tiananmen Square, well, please see above about epic squares. However, for me, experiencing cities is much more about wandering through the streets, sitting in the cafes, bars, restaurants, meeting the people, popping into the local random shops (kitsch rubbish galore) and, well, 'living'. Actually, on this visit in particular, all that really meant eating and given that we had much time to kill whilst planning our escape from the madness of the impending week long national holiday we did plenty of it.

Small things that bring great joy

It's been a bit of a nothing week this week. Plenty of bus and train journeys, and plenty of chillage in the bars and restaurants of Kathmandu. So I thought I would share one of my favourites pictures of the trip with you instead of a foto Friday 'what's been going on this week' update.

The topic of children has come up a lot recently. Once when Chris and I met the inspirational Garry Goddard,  who set up his own children's charity in Nepal about 13 years ago helping to reunite displaced kids with their parents, and then again on a bus ride to the Indian border where I met an Australian woman who had been volunteering in an orphanage in the Kathmandu valley. The topic has also featured heavily in the books I've been reading ('Stones into Schools', and 'Half the Sky'). I have heard so many heart-breaking stories with children at the centre of them that it made me think, paradoxically, of a happy little chappy we encountered in a rural Tibetan village. I had been playing hide and seek with him and just managed to capture the perfect shot (I think!) of that moment with him, darting between the trucks and jeeps. His smile was so readily given and genuine, his giggle so infectious that it really did create a small moment that I will never forget. As ever, it's the small things that really make an impact in life.

The Land of Plenty

Ok, so I've been lazy on the updates. It had to happen at some point and Nepal was finally the place to make Chris and I go 'wow', and simply forget ourselves in trekking, biking, laking and safari-ing. There will be many many more blogs to come on our time here but here are a few photos of the highlights to make up for all the lost foto Friday's I've spent away from the internet.

Reaching for the heights!

Last week I was unable to post because, yes you guessed it, we were in Tibet and the Chinese firewall was still a hindrance. We took a record number of photos in Tibet (925 on an 8 day trip), so as you can imagine, picking just one is a bit tricky. Nevertheless, I have done so.

Chris and I hadn't planned to visit Everest base camp as we'd heard it was a pretty touristy place to go, both on the Nepalese and Tibetan sides, and that there are some much more impressive and beautiful mountain ranges to explore. However, our itinerary simply took us that way so we didn't have much choice. We were both pleased that it did. There is something very surreal about looking at a mountain peak that is only about 3000-4000m higher than you are, that actually looks pretty small up close, and thinking, 'wow, that is the highest point on the planet'. It was surprisingly thought provoking, and the walk up there, at 5200m quite literally took our breath away!

There are many more photos of our trip over the Roof of the World which I will upload soon (having trouble with the connection speeds here) but for now here is a cheesy one of Chris and I at EBC, in front of the 8848m peak that is Mount Everest.

Gotta love those matching hats!

In the footsteps of Chinggis Khaan

Our train pulled into Ulaanbaatar just as dawn was breaking over the city. Expectations were low based on the various accounts we had heard about the place, and all we wanted to do was organise a tour as quickly as possible and get out to the infamous Mongolian Steppes. We were in luck. As we stepped off the train we were met by a rep from the hostel we had been planning to go to, as well as a Dutch couple also in search of companions with whom to adventure. The hostel organised tours and had one leaving the next day - perfect! What a welcome change to be greeted with a smile, some helpful good news and to hear some laughter after our stint with the grim faced Russians!

As Chris and I ran around the city seeking essentials for the trip (woolly hats mainly - you will have seen how cool we look in matching ones in the photos) we were struck by how much we liked Ulaanbaatar. Yes, it is polluted and smelly; yes, it is chaotic and crumbling; yes, there are pickpockets on every corner, but it is alive! The contrast to Russia is tangible; people smile, they laugh, they say hello to you and communicate with their eyes if they can't speak your language. The chaos of the city could well be unappealing to some, but for me, it simply spells out growth and opportunity. Everywhere you look something enterprising is happening and I honestly find it very exciting. Ulaanbaatar is also incredibly cosmopolitan; it has good restaurants, enticing cafes, glamorous department stores - it is a city on the up and the evidence is all around. We both had a good feeling about the place and were excited for the eight days ahead.