Chengde, 23/9/2005 at 18:30 Before we start with this long story (we’ve been without internet for couple of days) the most important thing to mention is this: We’ve been on the Wall and it is TRULY GREAT! See below what happened from day 6 to day 9.
Day 9: Simatai – Chengde: Bad Day on the bikes
Chengde, 23/9/2005 at 18:30 Day 9: Simatai – Chengde: Bad Day on the bikes We got up at 5:15 am to get away early and be before darkness in Chengde. We started and found out that Jolanda had a flat tire. People get up early in China because already at this time of the day we had a lot of …
Day 8: Simatai Eastern Great Wall on foot
Chengde, 23/9/2005 at 18:30 Day 8: Simatai Eastern Great Wall on foot Visiting the people of Jinshanling had been a bad experience so we decided to stay another day in Simatai. This time we walked the Eastern part of the Wall at Simatai. This part is not for the faint-hearted. This rough section of the Wall is largely unrestored and …
Day 7: Simatai-Jinshanling on foot on the WALL
Chengde, 23/9/2005 at 18:30 Day 7: Simatai-Jinshanling on foot on the WALL After having slept on beds like planks we got up early to get to the Wall. We wanted to be there before the tourists on day trips coming from Beijing. The village where we slept was close to the wall, so actually we were up the Wall so …
Day 6: Miyun-Simatai by bike
Chengde, 23/9/2005 at 18:30 Day 6: Miyun-Simatai by bike Having gone all the way from Beijing on the major roads the day before it was a pleasure to go to Simatai primarily on country roads. We had almost no traffic and went through many small farmer villages with houses falling apart between the hands of the very poor farmers. We …
Day 5: Beijing – Miyun: First Day on the Bikes
Miyun, 19/9/2005 at 20:15 For the first time on our holidy we went for a long ride on the bikes: from Beijing to Miyun ! Everybody looked a lot at us: Two Europeans in tight cycling outfits. We even kept our jackets on because it was a cloudy day and a bit chilly at times. The first part of our …
Impressions from Beijing
Today we’ve already been in Beijing for a few days and it’s time to move on. However, first it’s time to try to give you a taste of all that we’ve seen in the last couple of days. On Saturday we had breakfast where we enjoyed the so-called Moon cakes. They’re supposed to be very delicious, but the one we …
Beijing: Yes, we’re here !
After a long flight with way too little space and way to little sleep we have arrived in Beijing. Of course it was very interesting for us to see if the bikes had taken the same trip as us – preferrably in one piece. At Beijing Airport we found all of our luggage including the bikes. The luggage was fine …
Schiphol Airport
Finally on the way, now sitting at Schiphol Airport waiting for the boarding at 19.15. This morning was all about packing everything, and that went extremely well until about 15 minutes before we wanted to leave when we weighed everything. We’re allowed to bring 30kg each including bikes excluding hand luggage, and to our great surprise we were well above …
Course: How-to-eat-with-chopsticks
We are just back from the Chinese restaurant where we asked for chopsticks. Not only that, we also wanted them to explain us how to eat with these things (in a language that we understand…). So we got a little “how-to-eat-with-chopsticks” course. While I was getting quite well along with it, and Jakob was spoiling all his food on the …