Last stop, Beijing

We have arrived in Beijing, our final destination before Sydney!

I think it only becomes apparent just how vast China is when you travel in a train for a whole night and find you've still only covered a fifth of its height by morning.

Ric was able to sleep well last night but the best I could achieve was a light dose. We were on the top of some very high bunks and although tiny and too near the roof for us to sit upright, they proved surprisingly cosy. Much to my dismay, the lights went off before 10pm so I had to stop reading the novel I'm engrossed in: yet another emotionally fraught, slightly depressing read. Also a bit of a 'chick-flick' one might say, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. It's an engaging and profoundly moving yarn but often overly sentimental and emotionally charged for my liking, resulting in me not so much sympathising with the characters and their respective senses of guilt and loss but being frustrated by them. I still haven't read War And Peace!

A small child wailed non-stop for a couple of hours before he finally exhausted himself with his cries, leaving the long carriage quiet except for a few muffled snores. The train rattled out a steady beat as it cut its determined path along the tracks through the dark landscape, occasionally groaning and squealing when it turned in to a bend.

Ric and I reached our arms out to each other in the wee hours as we drifted in and out of sleep, full up on the yoghurt, cheese and crackers we'd stocked up on earlier. In my dreamy fug, this small gap between the bunks seemed to me to be something of a metaphor for the gulf of secrets, lies, fears, opposing desires and very occasionally silence that has sometimes felt so apparent between us on our travels and yet one that we have always bridged and that seems perfectly natural. In some ways we have never been so close or such a strong unit.

We arrived at 6.30am and by nine o'clock were traipsing round Tienanmen Square and the
Forbidden City in the scorching heat, marvelling at their huge size and the numbers of tourists who'd beat us to it. There were literally hundreds of us. It wasn't much fun what with the heat and crowds and I don't think we saw nearly as much as we could have done!

I get a bit fed up with the amount of pushing and shoving the Chinese seem to feel is necessary to get by and the queues at the palace were no exception. Ric, however, loves getting stuck in!

We've become used to being surrounded by at least five or six waiting staff when we sit down to order in a restaurant. They are generally extremely helpful, patient and good natured towards us and even a little curious. A few are bloody rude and have no idea what constitutes good service. We've just enjoyed a great meal at a lively (and noisy!) place close to our hostel where Ric had his first Peking Duck. I wish I was tempted but its little cooked head made me feel so sad.

We'll get up early tomorrow, stock up on water, slap on the sun block, hire some bikes and go and look at the Temple of Heaven.