Welcome to the first blog of the Beijing to Istanbul 2014 Odyssey Overland adventure!
We’ve been officially a group for nearly a week and so it’s about time we let you all know
what we are up to.
Well it all started in Beijing, the group gathered from all corners of the world to the vast capital city of China, ready for a 3 month adventure following the ancient Silk Road, the route used by merchants nearly 1000 years ago to transport goods across the world, and with those goods they transported food, religion, traditions and stories that connected the medieval world. We will follow one of the ancient paths on our way across to Istanbul, across an entire continent. Everyone arrived with bags stuffed full of everything they might possibly need for 3 months on the road and also heads stuffed with hopes, a few nerves and a lot of excitement!
Our first port of call was the official Pre-Departure Meeting, an overland tradition where the group gets together and the crew spend an hour or so explaining as much as they possibly can about the trip, while the group attempt to take it all in and remember everyone’s names!
We had a couple of days in Beijing before heading off in to the enormous landmass of
China and to start with we all went on a group trip to the famous Forbidden City located on
the infamous Tiananmen Square.
Smog and a bit of drizzle had set in which brought some much needed coolness, Beijing is
humid and blistering in the July sun and we were able to enjoy the ancient citadel in
relative comfort and without the huge crowds it is often filled with.
In order to make a bit of sense of what we were seeing we enlisted the help of the lovely Rosemary who took us on a tour and told us tales of Emperors, Concubines, Dowager Empresses and the eventual end of the Empire in the early 20th Century, it was a fascinating glimpse in to a history that we hear little of in the West.
Everyone had a bit of time to explore the city before we set off, it is a vast, bustling
metropolis with luxury shopping malls everywhere, people everywhere, food everywhere
and life taking place on the streets everywhere. There is always something to see or do
and the local people are amazingly friendly, especially considering they live tightly packed
in to a busy population of 20 million.
Then the day arrived for us to head off in to the unknown and the real beginning of our
adventure. Everyone heaved their bags down to the front of the hotel where our trusty
steed Penelope waited patiently to be loaded up. Emma and Simon gave a tour of all
Penelope’s lovely features and a few tips of security and staying healthy as well as
assigning jobs to everyone.
Well it all started in Beijing, the group gathered from all corners of the world to the vast capital city of China, ready for a 3 month adventure following the ancient Silk Road, the route used by merchants nearly 1000 years ago to transport goods across the world, and with those goods they transported food, religion, traditions and stories that connected the medieval world. We will follow one of the ancient paths on our way across to Istanbul, across an entire continent. Everyone arrived with bags stuffed full of everything they might possibly need for 3 months on the road and also heads stuffed with hopes, a few nerves and a lot of excitement!
Our first port of call was the official Pre-Departure Meeting, an overland tradition where the group gets together and the crew spend an hour or so explaining as much as they possibly can about the trip, while the group attempt to take it all in and remember everyone’s names!
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| Pre-departure meeting |
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| Tianenmen Square |
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| Simon & Emma - the crew |
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| Elizabeth outside the Forbidden City |
In order to make a bit of sense of what we were seeing we enlisted the help of the lovely Rosemary who took us on a tour and told us tales of Emperors, Concubines, Dowager Empresses and the eventual end of the Empire in the early 20th Century, it was a fascinating glimpse in to a history that we hear little of in the West.
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| The Forbidden City |
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| Defensive moat to protect the Emperor |
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| Rosemary tells us stories of the past |
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| A little girl dresses up in traditional dress |
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| The child on the right was the last Emperor of China - after he lost his throne he was allowed to remain at the Forbidden City as a gardener |
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| Beijing backstreets |
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| Tasty scorpion of seahorse snack anyone? |
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| Elizabeth gets a lift |
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| Ancient pagoda |
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| The modern Olympic stadium |
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| The Lama Temple |
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| Kites in the park |
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| Handsfree umbrellas |
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| Beijing artwork |
+Duck.jpg) |
| Peking (Beijing) duck |
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| Pedaloes at sunset |
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| Our trusty steed, Penelope |
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| Everyone gathers to load up |
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| Simon & Emma explain how our new home works |
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| Starting kilometres! |
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| Jason, our cab mascot, named after our local guide |
and then we were off, North out of Beijing to the hills and our first stop, and what a way to
start with this...
We’d piled on to the cable car and been whisked up in to the green hills to be greeted by
the incredible Great Wall of China at Jinshanling. The smog was sitting in the air and the
wall seemed to float off in to the hazy distance as far as the eye could see.
It also happened to be Sarah’s birthday, another reason to celebrate, and the crew had
brought up a very tasty creamy lemon cake which was suffering in the heat so we stopped
to enjoy it before it melted!
We set off again the next morning to Datong, home to the Yungang Grottoes, a series of
Buddhist caves and carvings from the 5th and 6th centuries complete with Giant Buddhas
all over the place, beautiful carvings hewn from the rock. Buddhism had reached China
from India along the Southern Silk Road and had firmly settled as the dominant religion.
What is left today is an amazingly well preserved example of Buddhist Grottoes, immense
Buddhas looming over you and peering out of caves, it is an impressive sight!
Datong has a long history but like much of China it has been modernising fast, during the
Cultural Revolution much of the ancient city was demolished but in recent years they have
been rebuilding the old city walls from scratch, it does mean that the ‘modern’ buildings are
actual older than the brand spanking new ‘ancient’ walls, which is a bit confusing, and very
Chinese! But it does make an impressive sight! Everyone had the chance to wander the
streets and find some weird and wonderful sights, something China does very well!
In the evening we visited a brilliant restaurant where they cooked shoulders of lamb on the
table in front of you, the smell was incredible and we sat amongst the locals enjoying a
feast of beautiful meat, tasty vegetables and amazing snacks, across the board the
Chinese know how to cook, it is a delight eating out here!
So we’re all fairly settled in to the pace of life on the road now and getting used to China
and its idiosyncrasies, it is a world very different from our home countries and sometimes
hard to understand, but people are friendly, smiley and always interested in us, we are
being photographed continually and are met with bemused stares and huge grins and
thumbs up everywhere we go. Let’s see what adventures the road ahead brings!
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| Wow, that really is a great wall! |
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| Jason, our local guide, and Peter |
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| Barry walks up the last few steps |
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| What a view! |
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| Helen partakes of a cheeky Great Wall Beer |
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| Simon doing some extreme yoga |
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| Our group, Beijing to Istanbul 2014! |
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| Barry shows off his new great wall t-shirt |
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| Birthday time! |
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| The birthday girl |
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| Outside the caves |
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| Incense burning |
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| Elizabeth has a go at archery |
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| "Ancient" city walls |
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| Datong is a coal mining town |
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| Sheltering from the heat and sun |
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| Chinese toilets are an adventure |
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| Car all decked out for Chinese Valentine's Day |
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| Richard is on keg duty |
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| Group meal mayhem! |
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| Keith vs lamb |
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| Emma & Helen |
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| Our local guide Jason who "doesn't like lamb"! |
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| Preparing hotpots at the neighbouring restaurant |
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| Keith having a giggle |
Thanks to Ken, Elizabeth and Helen for donating your fantastic photos!
it all looks, and sounds, fantastic. all the best for the rest of the trip.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Carol (friend of Diane's)
Wow - great blog. I agree with Carol - just sounds so amazing. Looking forward to more updates.
ReplyDelete