The bus trip from Qingdao back to Beijing turned out to be much more comfortable than we had expected, as you can see from this photo. Bunk beds on a bus! Even though the coach was comfortable, we still only got five or six hours of broken sleep. Our arrival in Beijing at around 7am was announced when the coach suddenly turned into an early 90s disco. The lights came up and grim techno music started blaring out of the speakers. Being woken up to the strains on 'No no no no no no no no no - There's no limits' after a ten hour drive made for an interesting start to one's day.
We spent today visiting Chairman Mao in him mausoleum in Tiananmen Square. The National Day holiday is still in full flow so we had to queue for about an hour with what felt like half the population of China. Once inside, we were ushered past the Great Helmsman so quickly that we were back out in the open air in less than thirty seconds. Nonetheless, it was a fascinating experience. If all goes according to plan, by the time I get back in December I will have seen Mao, Kim Il Sung and Lenin: the big-hitters of the communist world.
I'm quite pleased with this photo of the recently completed National Theatre (plus window-cleaner) in Beijing. I took it last week but have only just found a PC which lets me rotate images.
Tomorrow Cathy flies back to London and I head off to Pyongyang. I thought for a long time about whether or not to take the trip. The company I am going with cover the in and outs very well on their website. Internet cafes in North Korea: Zero. I will be forced to maintain radio silence until a week Monday.
6 comments:
Great reports! Thought you would have stayed there for the Grand Prix this weekend.
'ello 'ello, zis is Night Hawk calling from Copenhagen.
So you are now in the wilderness for a week. Seeing all the communist A list celebrity dictators is an excellent idea. I was thinking recently that it would be a good idea to try to get hold of bank notes with the big names on e.g Stalin, Hitler, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, etc and framing them. I don't know if they all issued notes with their images on but these people do tend to pushg their own image about a bit.
Hope it all goes well, and you write another entry on Monday or I shall think you are dead. I shall be in Miami next week on my own so you are not the only one travelling.
Lawrence - no pic of National Theatre (or window cleaner). Should you make it out of N. Korea do fix!
Hi Lawrence - can see the pic now just fine!
Seems like you're having an interesting time. Big hug to Kimmi when in N. Korea.
Gripping stuff this. Can't wait to hear what happens next.
Now that I am out of China I can finally view my own blog and reply to comments (long story - blame The Great Firewall Of China).
Douglas, I would have stayed in Shanghai to watch the GP but I had already booked the DPRK trip.
Michael, I have some notes with Mao on and have sent home a few featuring Kim Il Sung. Maybe we could start a collection together?
Post a Comment