Today was a long day. It was the first day of our land tour. We had to get up early for breakfast to be ready to leave on our tour at 8:30 am. We were on a bus that wasn't very comfortable and my seat would recline into the lap of the person behind me without even trying. I apologized as soon as I realized what was happening so they opted to move to a different seat.
We drove for an hour or 2 (I don't remember) and visited the Great Wall. It was quite a walk from the bus to the Wall. There were people everywhere. We were given about an hour and a half to walk the Wall and then meet back at a coffee shop. Pat and Terry walked all the way to the top on the portion that we visited. I understand that Terry was almost crawling by the time they came back down. It was a steep walk and even harder going down hill. Mary P and I didn't go to the top. We were smarter than that. We just walked a little ways and then went back down to the coffee shop where we had diet Cokes.
After our visit to the Great Wall we went to a shop where they make the vases and went on a tour. They had some pretty stuff for sale there but I resisted buying anything. Upstairs they had lunch for us. We sat at a table for 10. There was a lazy susan in the middle where they placed the food. As we passed each thing around, they then brought out more different types of food. I really wished they would just put it all out at once so I could pick and choose what I wanted. Some of the dishes were better than others.
After lunch I made a visit to the ladies room. They had 2 "western" stalls and the others were Chinese stalls. I didn't try the Chinese stalls. One thing that they do different is that you have to get your toilet tissue as you go in the restroom. There is none in the stalls.
We then had our last tour to go to. It was of the Summer Palace. It was nice but so many people and it was so cold. It was built around a lake. They said it was shaped either like a bat or peach. I can't remember which one, but whichever one it is, it is supposed to be lucky I think. After the tour we were given about 40 minutes of free time and were to meet back where the tour ended. Everyone was back except for one couple. We waited and waited for them. Of course we were all freezing. It ended up that they had found their way back to the warm bus. Once they were located we got to go back to the bus also.
We were close in to town but the evening traffic was bad. We finally made it back to our hotel and were exhausted. After a brief rest we decided to go to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner. We thought we ordered off a menu at night but we had a choice of ordering or eating off the buffet. Mary P and I opted for the buffet. They had a wide assortment of food to choose from. Some of it I wouldn't dare try and some that I did was tasty. They had something on the salad bar that looked like it had fingers or toes that had been chopped off. Mary P asked someone what it was and I think they said it was a starfish. I didn't try it. This buffet for Mary P and I cost a little over 700 RMB which is over $100! I guess I should have had peanut butter crackers in the room instead.
The next morning we are leaving Beijing and going to Xian. At 7:00 am we are to have our bag outside our room that we wish to check on the plane. Then at 8:00 am we are to have our bags outside our room that we want to keep at the hotel in Beijing that we will get on the way back. We are only allowed 44 lbs of checked luggage on our domestic flights. Tomorrow will come very early in the morning.
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