The End Has No End Part I

In the last installment I was in Taiwan. That feels like a world away – which, technically is true. I've spent an extraordinary amount of time traveling in the last two weeks, just to get to that particular place at the right time. Hours and hours on end in the train, or the bus, a lot of boredom, but also a lot of laughs and drinks with fellow travelers and friends.


To give you short overview of my travels since then: I got back to Hong Kong, crossed the border into China and made my way to Guilin, famous for it's karst mountains and spectacular views. From there I got a bus to Changsha, a non-descript Chinese city which only claim to fame is being close to the small village where Chairman Mao was born.


The reason I went there was because I wanted to meet up with a very good French friend from Vietnam, Cedric, who was staying in this city with his American-Vietnamese girlfriend Kim. It was a great deal of fun seeing my former housemate and to celebrate my birthday with him. Fortunately, we were taken out for traditional dinners (which in China involves a lot of drinking) by the host family of Kim. They even bought me a birthday cake; I can't remember the last time I had one.



After spending a good amount of time in Changsha, I spent close to twenty hours in the train to check one of the “must-see places” in China: The Terracotta Army in Xi'an. Thousands upon thousands of clay soldiers buried by the emperor that first unified China two millennium back.


Tasked with guarding the his royal highness in the afterlife, they still form a spectacular sight lined up row on row in battle formation. It took the emperor close to thirty years to build this unusual tomb, and thirty years after it's discovery new pits with broken and toppled over warriors are still being found.



The big prize was in sight. After another night train, I finally found myself in Beijing, the capitals of capitals and what a lovely place it was. My time there was defiantly too short for the great amount of sights in and around the big city. In no particularer: Tianemen Square (in Dutch, Plein van de Hemelse Vrede), the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and a ten kilometer hike on top of a ruined but authentic stretch of the Great Wall.



Beijing was another meeting point. This time two Brits, Cath and Joe, both former colleagues of mine from my time teaching English in Hanoi. We've been together ever since, because all three of us were planning to do the same route back home.

The great Trans-Siberian railway. In general, it's more popular to do it in the eastern direction, from Moscow to Beijing, rather than the other way around. I guess it has to do with logistics, it's quite difficult to obtain Russian tourist visa's, though I got lucky when I managed to get mine in Hong Kong.



From Beijing to Moscow, the train takes seven long, ardenous days. But we were quite interested in Mongolia, so we decided to have some downtime in country best known for it's retarded kids (I know, bad joke) and that great military leader and “barbariannn” Chingis Khan (pronounced as Jingis Ghaan).

For even more adventurous adventures go the second installement!

The End Has No End Part II