Adventuring: A Travelblogue with Photos

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Travel

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Favorites of Beijing, and The Great Wall

First photos--of the 800 taken!--are up! I started with my favorites of the whole trip, then added in the Great Wall. Later there will be specificgroups like the Forbidden City, the zoo, the Monk Wangsong Pagoda, and others. https://flic.kr/p/2fqvWpA start here, click to the left... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Climbing to the Great Wall at Mutianyu

The ideal way to visit the Great Wall would be on a day with a light human presence, with several hours to tramp up and down the Wall as it follows the contours of the land, by stairs and ramps, through watch posts and guard towers. Ideally, one should be in good enough condition to negotiate the... Sign in to see full entry.

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Monday, April 8, 2019

The Great Wall

Today we are going to visit a portion of the Wall at Mutianyu, about 50 miles north of Beijing. It is not the most visited nor the most photographed section, which is one reason I chose this tour. Also, it offers a cable-car to the top which saves my poor old back from climbing. There is the option... Sign in to see full entry.

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Beijing Shopping Tour

Today we had a private tour with an English-speaking guide who not only showed us around the public market shops, but also bargained with the vendors to get us the best prices. Two machine-embroidered cashmere scarves offered at 1400 yuan we got for 160. Charlie found a hat originally at 200 yuan... Sign in to see full entry.

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Saturday, April 6, 2019

Real Chinese Food

We don't get real Chinese food in the US, at least not where I have ever lived. I am sitting here in the hotel now, eating moo shu pork and braised eggplant. What they call moo shu pork here is totally different from what is meant by that in the US, where it is served with a light rice pancake, and... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tea at the Pagoda and Other Adventures

We went back to the little enclave of the Monk Wansong Pagoda for the second time since the first visit, sat at the little table and had tea. We watched the big white cat whom Charlie has named Pookah, spying out his special napping nests here and there. Yesterday he--Pookah, that is--was lively,... Sign in to see full entry.

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Zoo Day

We took a taxi to the zoo this morning to save my back and hips from strain, and for the same reason, used a wheelchair at the zoo. We left a deposit of 500 yuan and my passport so we would not run off with it, or abandon it somewhere. This isn't a rental, it is a free thing, so that was a pleasant... Sign in to see full entry.

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Thursday, April 4, 2019

Sometimes only cash is good enough

Advice I got before the trip has turned out to be not exactly reflective of reality. For one thing, some restaurants--pretty fancy places--smiled and nodded when I showed my Discover card before we ordered. When it came time to pay the bill, however, they wanted cash only. This episode also brought... Sign in to see full entry.

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Everything is BIG!

We were picked up for our day of touring at 6:40 this morning, five minutes before the hotel's breakfast buffet opened. We were able to grab a few bits of hand food, and some bananas, but certainly that was not the breakfast we'd looked forward to! The bus driver whisked us off to pick up two other... Sign in to see full entry.

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Wednesday, April 3, 2019

The Pagoda of Monk Wansong

This small, plain pagoda sits in a small square garden just off one of the main streets a few blocks from our hotel. The cherry trees are full of pale pink that are in constant attendance by chubby black bees an an occasional white butterfly. There is a pomegranite tree with a few of last year's... Sign in to see full entry.

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About this Blog

Celebrating travel! If you think the world is too big, or the language barriers too high, come along with me, as I bumble my way here and there... The world really is an accessible place-- not as expensive to explore as one might imagine, nor are the language barriers as high, nor the mood of people beyond our borders unwelcoming... ***If you want good prints of any of my photos, email me and I will let you know how to get them. Please respect my copyright on these, they are my retirement account!

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