Update under construction May 22
Due to certain restrictions of the oriental Internet-cafes, we are currently not able to supply you with your vital daily fix of pictures of us on our exhilarating quest, on (bumpy) rails, to China. Since we know your lives depend on it, all efforts to post pictures are currently at work. The employment of half the Chinese work-force is under consideration (of course for the minimum wage of 2 bowls of rice and a banana a day), though at this very moment Jesper is thinking really hard about doing something about it.
To give y’all a taste of the journey; here’s a quick insight of a selected 3 hours, of our first day on the transsiberian rail. It commences with the meeting and greeting of 3 American marines, a Brit (who has sold all material possessions and on his way to Australia), and of course us. Since the 8 are still in Russia (and the time being only 16:00), our colourful cast goes through the custom introduction fase Russian style – with a shot of vodka. Like a mutated dog who tastes human blood for the first time in a bad horror-movie, their attention is immediately averted to scout how much vodka they collectively have – 8 bottles… It has to be mentioned, that we contributed 4 bottles which was bought with the full intention of the lasting out the whole trip, with the thought of possibly bringing some home. Little did we know a vodka frenzy was in place. The 8 bottles miraculously, yet promptly, disappeared in 3 hours – a feat only challenged by few other legendary Russian introductions (e.g. when Vlad met Olga), and by David Copperfield’s trick of making the Statue of Liberty disappear. It must of course be noted that the “few other legendary Russian introductions” have very little credibility and no record of it actually happening. We hope this is enough of the rail quest for you guys to chew on but in case it isn’t, here is a update of our first days in China.
Against all odds we find ourselves intact (except for our hair) in the capital of China, Bei Jing. We are immediately assaulted by Dun Jack’s family and thrown into a hotel for a much needed bath. Besides being a more than cheap hotel, it is conveniently placed in the vicinity of Dun Jack’s aunt – for the much needed washing of our clothes. After being cleaned and proper groomed, we are almost presentable to Chinese society. This being our first night in Bei Jing, EVER, we decided to eat chinese (even though McD was near by). Dun Jack’s family took us reserved a room for ourselves at an extravagant restaurant for a classic Chinese dinner with Bei Jing’s most known dish – the Bei Jing Duck. Though the 3 white people were quite accomplished at utilizing chopsticks, DJ’s family still managed to find more than several occasions to laugh at them. All feeling ashamed of themselves and slightly fatigued by all the laughing, DJ’s family compensated by picking up the bill and introducing them to some 56% rice-wine.
Our first Entire day in Bei Jing was dedicated to some tourist sites, Tian An Men. With some unfailing irony, Bei Jing decided to rain as we stepped into the bus – for the entire day. We took a weak attempt at visiting Tian An Men but decided that we photograph better when the sun is out and go back tomorrow. Instead, we keenly observed Bei Jing city life from a mall, eating approximately 3 lunches and bought some shoes. DJ’s aunt then treated us to an exclusive spa for the wealthy where we fit right in. An hours luxurious massage was had and we were regenerated. We then decided to try chinese fast-food for dinner and go post some pictures where we found out how we can’t. We have full intentions of returning tomorrow to Tian An Men fully reinforced with newly bought umbrellas and long-sleeves.
But we all hope it doesn’t come to that…
Edit: Inserted pictures
