Back to Ho Chi Minh City!

My last day in Vietnam was spent at the War Remnants Museum (formally known as the War Crimes Museum, and before that was called the Museum of American War Crimes . Interesting). My two friends and I decided to get to the museum via motorcycle taxis, which were quickly becoming my favorite form of travel. I cannot say the same is true for Ali, who I have a video of sitting on the back of a motorcycle saying, "I'm panicking," with a terrified look on her face. I've never laughed so hard at her. Okay, so that's a lie, I laugh at her expense all the time. I'm just such a great friend.

 

Anyway, we got to the museum unscathed, and found ourselves facing two huge tanks on one side of the entrance, and a couple of fighter planes on the other.Going inside, we started in one room on the second floor, which functioned as an illustrated timeline of the events leading up the the war, what happened during it, and the many devistating after effects. I saw photographs of children whose parents had been exposed to Agent Orange during the war, children  born with life-altering physical and mental handicaps. As an American, it had been so easy for me to consider the Vietnam War as a thing of the past, something terrible that was over fway before my lifetime. Yet here in front of me was an entire generation of Vietnamese people who are still reeling from the effects of a war that I considered history. I felt so ashamed of my own ignorance in that moment as I stared in horror at those black-and-white photographs.

 

Next to the museum was a replica of the prisons in which the South Vietnamese government held political prisoners. Inside there were more graphic images and detailed descriptions of the various methods of torture that the guards used in order to get information from the prisoners. It was extremely disturbing, and I was definitely ready to leave after spending two hours at the museum. I wouldn't say I had a good time there, but I would say that it was a necessary visit to take.

 

We spent the remainder of our time in Vietnam walking around aimlessly in the markets, trying to use up the rest of our Dong (Vietnamese currency), and of course, picking up our dresses from the tailor. I loved mine, they really did an amazing job on it. (I won't tell you what it looks like, you'll just have to see pictures later!)

 

Getting back on the ship and leaving Vietnam was tough because I definitely didn't get to do everything that I wanted to do there. I didn't have time to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels or the Mekong Delta, two things that are absolutely going to be on my to-do list for the next time I visit this amazing country.

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Unsure of why I even bothered going to bed at 1:30 AM, I got up again at 3 and was in the Union at 3:45 to meet my group that would be going with me on the SAS trip to Vietnam. My group leader was actually my Oceanography professor, Professor Abel, who was taking attendence and looking way too stressed out for that early in the morning. There were about 30 of us in total, a nice small group, and we all climbed on the bus in silence to make our way to the airport for our 6AM flight. I passed out for the entire 45 minute ride.

 

Getting off the plane and looking around, I was glad to see that we were in a very different place than the one we just left. Nha Trang, which is in southern Vietnam, is much more rural than Ho Chi Minh City, with plenty of beautiful beaches and other natural sights to see. We met our tour guide, Liam, who would be taking us around for the 3 days we'd be there. We got on the bus to first go to our hotel, and on the way there, Liam had the driver pull over right there on the highway so we could get out and take pictures of the amazing beach that we were passing on our right. We all got out and walked over to the edge of the cliff to look down at the clear, blue water crashing against the rocks. In the distance we could see land jutting out into the water, and a small island just beyond that. The scene was incredible, and after that moment, I was completely awake and excited to get the day started!

 

We dropped by our hotel for a short time just to check in, and realized that our very nice hotel was right across the road from a long stretch of beach. After seeing this, it was hard to get back on the bus and leave again, but we did, and Liam took us to some pretty cool places that morning. Our first stop was Long Son Pagoda, which consisted of a large, beautiful Buddhist temple, behind which was a 79 foot white Buddha statue. This pagoda was built to honor the monks and nuns who died demonstrating against the Diem government. Next to the Buddha, there were walls constructed as monuments for these people, with each of their names carved into them. It was a truely amazing place, made even more amazing by the fact that there were thousands of little yellow butterflies flying around everywhere!

 

Next we took a short bus ride, then parked it so we could walk across a bridge to get to our next destination. We had to walk single file down the right side of the bridge, and we saw all of these cool fishing boats floating in the bay. We reached the other side and crossed the street to go up and see the Po Nagar Cham Towers.These ancient towers looked like ruins, as they had been build between the 7th and 12th century by the Cham civilization, but taking off my shoes and going inside each of the towers, the amazing shrines and burning inscense told me that these towers are still actively used as a place of worship by the local Buddhists.

 

After seeing the towers, Liam brought us the the local market, where we were given time walk around and do a little shopping, which was the last thing I wanted to do because of the heat and I was just sick of markets in general. Luckily we only did this for an hour or so before we got back on the bus to go to our next location.

 

Liam took our group to a part of the shore where there were a bunch of large boulders jutting out into the water. We climbed on them and took a lot of pictures, just enjoying the scenery for a little while, until finally it was time for lunch. On SAS trips, you usually don't get a choice of food, but rather they bring out a series of different dishes and you get to try everything. This is a good idea in theory, because you get to try all sorts of local dishes, but let's just say that sometimes it doesn't turn out well. Oh well.

 

After lunch we were taken back to the hotel and given our room assignments. We were given the afternoon free until dinner, so we all rushed to change into our bathing suits and beelined it for the beach, where we spent a good few hours just drinking, swimming and hanging out.I was so tired by dinner that I couldn't even tell you what we ate or talked about. Afterwards, I attempted to go out to a bar with a few friends, but only stayed out for a few drinks before I headed back, exhausted from the long day and lack of sleep.

 

The next morning was simply incredible. That morning, we took the bus out to the water and rented two boats as well as snorkling equipment which came out to arounf $0.50 American for the day. We separated into the two boats and sailed out to the middle of the water, which was so clear that we could see straight down to the bottom, although where we were anchored the water was probably about 20 feet deep. This is where we stayed for several hours, just climbing up to the roof of the boats and jumping off into the water, or laying out and drinking. There were women on our boats who were giving massages and manicures, so Liam, being the crazy, hilarious guy he is, decided to take nail polish and paint the toes of some of the guys in our group while they weren't paying attention. It was SO funny, and Liam laughed the hardest out of all of us.

 

In the early afternoon we drove the boats to a resort that was built right on the water to get some lunch. The place was very secluded, very beautiful. After lunch we just spent some time sitting in the lounge chairs or going swimming. I actually fell asleep for awhile before we headed back to the hotel. Again, we had the afternoon free before dinner, so I hung out at the pool with some people. We compared sunburns, played some games in the pool, showered and met up for dinner.

 

After dinner, we all went out together and, well, had a great time! Haha. No details necessary here. It was a fun night. The following morning, we caught our flight back to Ho Chi Minh City and I met up with some friends for our last evening in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

In the days preceding our arrival in Vietnam, we were all aware that we couldn't possibly go there without first addressing and discussing our history with this country, namely, the Vietnam War, and the controversy behind it. I have to mention that one of the most interesting and heartbreaking Global Studies classes we had was just a few days before Vietnam, where we had three speakers talk to the class. Two were Vietnam war veterans, one who had willingly volunteered for the war and one who had been drafted, and one person who had been an avid protestor during the war. I was extremely surprised to find how little tension there was between these men who had such passionate opposing opinions on one of the most controversial wars our country had ever fought in. The thing was that these men didn't disagree on whether or not the soldiers in the war fought valiantly, but rather their divide rested in whether or not our presence in Vietnam was valid and necessary. Was our attempt at preventing the spread of Communism worth the lives of 50,000 young American men and as many as 3 million Vietnamese (most of which were innocent civilians)? It was difficult for me to wrap my head around these numbers, and it was one of those moments that I felt I was born in the wrong time. I began to wonder what it would have been like to grow up during the Vietnam War. Where would I have stood on this issue?

I think the best answer to the question was spoken by one of the veterans: "Even if you don't support the war, support the troops." This was the same veteran who went on to tell us how, after all he had endured serving in the war, he had to come back to a country that hated him. As he told us about how he had had urine thrown on him, and about the countless times he had been called a Baby Killer, his statement rang true in my mind. No one deserves that kind of treatment, especially someone who has served our country as loyally as he did.

Although it was a heavy-handed class, it was also a very necessary one. Before that class, I knew next to nothing about this period in our history. Now I feel I am more informed about the Vietnam War than the war we are currently fighting, which, I'm not afraid to admit, is not only sad on my part, but also I think true for many people of my generation.

The morning of our arrival in Vietnam, Ali and I, once again, met out on the deck at 6:30AM, and I have to say, out of all the countries we had done this for, this sunrise coming into port has been my favorite up to this point for the entire trip.We stood and watched as our ship trekked slowly down the Saigon River, a narrow waterway surrounded on both sides with only low-growing trees, between which there were still smaller rivers winding away in the distance. Occasionally, we passed people in small, wooden canoes and a couple of fishing boats, but besides that it was just our ship and a beautiful sunrise. Looking ahead of us, we could just make out some buildings in the distance that we knew to be Ho Chi Hinh City. We went back inside to get ready.

At the diplomatic briefing in the Union, representatives of Vietnam informed us about all the things we need to be wary of in the country, such as drive-by theft (AKA someone grabbing your bag off your shoulder from a moving motorcycle), and the general traffic, which is erratic and unpredictable, to say the least. They gave us advice on different things to eat, such as Fo (pronounced "Fuh"), which is this noodle soup dish that you can get with chicken or beef (delicious), and the coffee, since Vietnam is the second largest exporter of coffee in the world (well of course, as a coffeeholic, I had to try it! It was also amazing.). On a more important note, we were told that the Vietnam we knew from our history books would not be the same Vietnam we would soon be experiencing. In the years following the war that devistated Vietnam's economy, the country had rebuilt itself, becoming one of the fastest-growing in the world, which I thought was really good to know.

Once we were finally cleared by customs, two friends and I stepped off the ship and felt the heat and humidity of midday Vietnam. We hopped on a shuttle bus that had been provided for the SAS students to take us into a more central part of the city. After being dropped off, we set out to find a tailor to have dresses and a suit made, since in Vietnam this is a very inexpensive thing to have done and we were all going to need dress clothes for the Alumni Ball at the end of the semester. Of course, finding the tailor meant we would have to cross the street, which in Vietnam, is an experience in and of itself. We were told at the briefing that road signs and street lights are rarely, if ever, followed, and that when you cross the street, you are supposed to walk slowly but confidently, never changing your pace and never attempting to dodge the motorcycles, but allowing them to go around you. This was probably the hardest part for me, to go against my natural instinct of getting out of the way of a motorbike that is speeding directly toward me, but their advice was dead on. As long as I didn't make any sudden movements and walked slowly, the motorcycles would swerve around me. I got the hang of this after awhile, but the first time I crossed the street in Vietnam is one that I will never forget.

By the time we found a good tailor, we were all famished, so we went to a restaurant which was almost directly above the shop. We, of course, had Fo, and dessert crepes, which were filled with fruit and topped with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Yeah. AMAZING. I know. What's even more amazing is that I had a glass of wine, an appetizer, an entree, and dessert for around $13 American. Gotta love that exchange rate!

Afterwards we were each fitted for our dresses (and suits), which didn't take all that long. All we had to do was flip through a magazine, find the design we liked, pick out the material, and have our measurements taken. The whole thing took only about half an hour. We spent the afternoon bumming around the city in the markets, which had just about anything you could possibly want, from clothes, to bootleg DVDs, to luggage, to jewelry, and every kind of souvenier you could possibly want. I bought 4 DVDs, which came out to about 50 cents each (score!) and I couldn't resist being a complete tourist as I bought a straw rice hat to wear around.

That evening, we met up at the ship with a few more friends, and went out to dinner, then to the Night Market, which consisted of stands being set up in the middle of the street. It was a lot of the same thing I had seen during the day, so I wasn't too interested in this, although I did manage to buy a pair of earrings and shoes to go with the dress I was having made for me. We called it an early night, which I was grateful for, since I had to be in the Union at 3:45 AM to go on my 3 day, 2 night SAS trip to Nha Trang.

We decided that the cheapest and fastest way to get back to the ship would be to take... motorcycle taxis!!! It was one thing to cross the street in Vietnam, but to be amid the craziness of the traffic on the back of a motorcycles was another thing entirely. We were required to wear helmets, which was good, and my driver actually didn't go extremely fast, so I felt relatively safe. We all got back to the ship safely, and personally, I couldn't wait to take another ride! I thought it was so much fun, although not everyone in my group shared my opinion.

Hong Kong

Our plane landed in Hong Kong around 9:30 PM, collected our bags, went through customs, yet again, and headed for the bus in silence. We were all too exhausted to say much to each other. The only thing really worth noting about the airport was that the big clocks over each baggage claim area said Rolex on them. We had just entered a country that have Rolex clocks in its airport. I had a feeling that Hong Kong, though in a way it is still part of China, would be very different from the place I'd just left.

 

I was right about that. Some of the obvious changes included a different flag, different currency, and we were back to people driving on the left side of the road (I was so confused when I first stepped onto bus from the left side). It was strange to see the familiar ship after my 4 day trip. I couldn't wait to take a shower and sleep in my own bed, in my own cabin..and it was then that I realized that I've strangly come to consider the MV Explorer "home." I didn't venture into the city that night because I was just too tired, so I decided to get an early start the next morning.

 

Okay, so the "early start" thing didn't exactly happen, but around 11:30 AM, I set out with a few girls to explore Hong Kong. Our ship was berthed at a port in which we had to walk through a HUGE mall in order to get out into the city, then we had to take a short ferry to get onto the mainland. As soon as we got off the ferry, we quickly found the bus station, hopped on a double decker, and headed out to a place called "Repulse Bay," which, although its name may imply otherwise, was an exceptionally beautiful beach. The water was clear and very green, so, seeing as this was the first time since Hawai'i that the port country has been warm, we walked down the beach to the water and put our feet in the water. I was so happy in that moment, as I realized that I wouldn't have to deal with cold weather until I am back in Ithaca for the fall!!

 

After messing around, climbing trees, taking pictures and just enjoying the comfotable weather, we crossed the beach to the dock on the other side, and I noticed that the boardwalk behind the beach on this end had many colorful Buddhist statues and other intricate religious structures. We walked around here for a bit, walking among that crowd of people, all of whom were admiring the statues as well.

 

By this time we were pretty hungry, so we decided to eat at a close place, which ended up being a Pizza Hut! Before you judge me on this decision, let's get something straight. I was SICK of Chinese food!!! Period. I needed something familiar in my stomach, and so did my friends. Plus, it didn't look like the Pizza Hut I had gone to as a kid. This place was like any other normal, slightly upscale Italian restaurant. I was so surprised, and the food was amazing, a change of pace that I desperately needed.

 

After lunch, we walked around some more, then took a bus back to the bus station we had left from. I walked around there with a couple of the girls just to see what kind of stores were around there before heading back to the ship. We ended up getting slightly lost, but hey, it's all part of the experience of travelling. New city, new sights, new ways to get lost and find your way back. On a side note, I think taking this journey has been really good for my sense of direction! (If you're reading this and you know me, you know that usually, I can get lost in a paper bad with written directions AND a GPS. Go ahead and laugh. You probably already are.)

 

After reboarding the ship, I ran into my good friend on the ship, who were all eating an early dinner in the dining hall. I was so happy to see them!! I didn't realize how much I missed them during the days in China that we were all on our separate trips. My friend Bailey asked me if I wanted to go to a floating restaurant called Jumbo later that night, and of course, I did. A floating restaurant?? Hell yes! So I quickly showered, got ready, and met them at the gangway.

 

We jumped on the ferry, then jumped on a bus, and headed to...a boardwalk. We walked along it a little ways before reaching a dock with a bright sign over it that said JUMBO. This is where the taxi boat picked us up to take us to the middle of the bay to the restaurant. I could see Jumbo in the distance from the taxi boat. It was a large building lit up by thousands of light bulbs, and it was, you got it, floating in the middle of the water. It was actually a very classy, very PRICEY place, so since we had all eaten already, we just got drinks and desserts on the top floor.

 

After getting off the taxi boat, our group split up and I, along with a few others, went to Hong Kong's "bar street," which is where we ran into...every other SAS student on our ship. Or it seemed to be anyway. I felt like I was running into everyone I knew! It was so much fun, bar hopping and catching up on everyone else's experiences in China. I also got into a really good conversation with a Swiss guy who spoke impeccable English, and ended up talking to him for much of the night.

 

Since we got back rather late that night, we decided to sleep in a little before going out for our last day in Hong Kong. We decided to go to Victora Peak, where we could see the most scenic view of Hong Kong Island. We got our tickets and got on a tram, which took us up to the Peak Tower. And when I say "up," I mean it felt like the tram was going almost straight up at a 90 degree angle. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it was very steep, and kind of nerve-racking. When we got to the building, we skipped through the stores, all of which were full of the same souveniers that we'd been seeing for the past week, and tried to find a good balcony in which to look out. The view of the water in the distance and the apartment buildings (where the wealthier people in Hong Kong must live) was pretty spectacular.

 

After taking the tram back down, we went to a restaurant called "The Modern Toilet." That's right, a bathroom-themed restaurant. Where we sat on toilet seats and ate on glass tables, under which were real sinks, and we were served food on mini toilet and sink plates. I even ate chocolate soft serve that looked like poop! We all got a good laugh out of it.

 

After our late lunch, unfortunately we had to head straight back to the ship to avoid dock time. The last thing that I saw of Hong Kong was its world-famous lazer light show, which happens every night at 8 PM. Hong Kong holds the Guiness World record for largest permanent light display, and I got to see it from the ship as we sailed away from the city. We were on our way to Vietnam, where we would be in just 2 days' time.

 

 

Beijing / Great Wall of China

Before I get started on my experiences in Beijing and on the Great Wall, I would like to take this time to note some of the key differences that I noticed between China and Japan. Let's just say, that although there are, of course,  many customs that these two countries share (in the past, the Japanese took many Chinese traditions and made them their own), I would go as far as to say that these countries are polar opposites in many ways. As I walked the streets of Beijing, several of the things I had noticed in Shanghai became much more apparent to me.

 

For instance, I noticed that the Chinese do not value cleanliness in the way the Japanese do. I wouldn't say there was more litter than normal, in fact the condition of the city reminded my strangely of NYC, but it was clear to me that I was not to expect a spotless street the way I expected in Japan. Also, I couldn't help but notice that people spit...a LOT. Everywhere I looked, people were spitting as they walked. I felt like I was constantly dodging it, as people would spit right on the ground in front of you and think nothing of it (although at times, I felt that they waited until I was close enough to spit right in the path I was walking. Not sure if that was my imagination or not). I suppose this spitting custom stems from the fact that almost everyone smokes cigarrettes.

 

Another fact that I found even more annoying than the spitting was the fact that it is cars, not pedestrians, who have the right of way on the road. Every time I crossed the street, I nearly had a heart attack from the number of cars blaring their horns at me and zooming by. Even at a crosswalk when I had a crossing signal, I had to be careful of cars making righthand turns, because they would literally just start turning into a crowd of people attempting to cross, expecting them to jump out of the way. This law, to put it simply, seemed ASS-BACKWARDS to me. Why the HELL should I be responsible for the actions that a person in a CAR is taking? Doesn't it make more sense for the person in the TWO TON MURDER VEHICLE to be on the lookout for people on the street?!  My experience walking around in China was stressful and frustrating, to say the least.

 

The language barrier in China was much more difficult to deal with than in Japan. In Japan, not only do most people speak at least rudimentary English, but they will go out of their way to attempt to speak it to you, and help you in any way they can. In fact, if you ask a Japanese person for directions on the street, you can expect them to more or less drop what they are doing and WALK you to your destination. It was absolutely incredible how hospitable these people were. In China, not only could you not expect anyone to speak English, but they will simply start speaking Chinese to you, even if they are fully aware that you have NO idea what they are saying. In Japan, the language difference was a challenge, but in China, it was simply a barrier. It was extremely frustrating because I WAS interested in talking to these people, I WANTED to get to know them, and get their inside and views of the world. I wanted to learn from these people, but unfortunately, it was pretty much impossible to carry on a conversation.

 

 

I had to be in the Union at about 5 AM, so I don't know why I went to bed at all after my evening out Go-Karting in Shanghai. After about maybe an hour and a half of sleep, I got my sorry butt out of bed, got my backpack together with my eyes half-closed, and dragged my body to the Union. There were several other students on my "Hike of the Great Wall" trip there who I had gone out with the night before, and we all sat catatonically on the couches, waiting to be led to the busses that would take us to the airport, where we would board for Beijing. That entire morning seems like a dream..I hardly remember it at all because I was so exhausted. I think we were all grateful for the 2 hours we had to sleep on the plane.

 

After getting off the plane and getting our large group togehter (I would guesstimate there were about 50 of us on this trip), we were led out to our 2 busses, the ones we would more or less be living on in the following days. On my bus, bus B, I sat down and we were introduced to Michelle, our tour guide for the journey. Her english was near perfect, and she was extremely friendly and informative. The first thing she did was take us to lunch, where we met the tour guide for the other bus, Marco, Michelle's partner-in-crime.

 

After lunch, we were taken to our "Five-Star Hotel" in some random outskirt of Beijing. It was a strange area, not the big, colorful city that I had imagined at all. I got a sort of abandoned vibe from the street we were on, but maybe that was because it was still Chinese New Year, so many of the stores were still closed. However, our hotel was very nice, and our rooms were huge. It was awesome to have a Queen-sized bed all to myself, after I had gotten used to my tiny bed in my tiny cabin back on the ship. We had several hours of free time before dinner, so my roommate Emily and I decided to explore the hotel and the area around it. The only thing we accomplished was to get laughed out of 4 different banks in my vain attempt to exchange my travelers' checks. Not going to lie, it made me kind of bitter toward Chinese people in that moment, and I wished I was back in Japan, where people are so incredibly helpful.

 

Anyway, we went back to the room and napped before dinner, which was right down the street from the hotel. It was more or less the same oily Chinese food that we had at lunch. Already, I was starting to get tired/feel sick from the food. Afterwards, I walked with a few other people to a nearby grocery store to get some snacks and drinks for the evening. We were all pretty tired, so we just sat on some comfy couches in the sitting area on the 15th floor, where my room was, and had some wine before going to bed. As we sat there next to the huge window that faced the street, we had a perfect view of fireworks going on right outside the hotel, literally just about fifty feet away! After the display, we all went to bed early, since we had a big day on the Great Wall in the morning.

 

After a breakfast that did NOT consist of traditional Chinese food (YES!!), our group hopped on the bus for the Great Wall. Despite still being tired from the day before, I was practically jumping out of my seat in excitement. Walking on the Great Wall of China has been on my "bucket list" of things to do for a very long time. Upon seeing the Wall for the first time, at a distance from the bus, I immediately started snapping pictures. We pulled up to a small hostel, where we used the bathrooms and collected our bag lunches. We were all itching to get up to the Wall, but before we did, Marco and Michelle had us do some stretches, telling us that the day's hike was not only going to be very long (we were hiking 6 miles that day), but also very steep. My friends and I kind of made a joke out of the stretching exercises, and man, do I wish we hadn't. Within the first 20 minutes of the hike, I had taken off my sweatshirt, my hat, my gloves and my scarf, because I was getting so overheated from the climb.

 

*Side note!! At the beginning of our hike, we saw a group of SASers who were on the ChinaGuide trip (a tour that was not through SAS), and they were zip-lining off of the Wall, across a huge, glassy lake to the other side, where we had started our hike. I was so jealous that we were not going to be doing that! I think I found another thing to put on my "bucket list."

 

As we continued our hike, climbing higher and farther, across a rickety bridge and up staircases so steep that you had to look directly up to see the top of them, I looked back at one point, my legs burning and my body aching...and all of the air suddenly left my lungs. The Great Wall of China literally took my breath away. I could see miles behind me and miles ahead of me, this great stone wall, thousands of years old, standing alone through the middle of an otherwise brown, barren mountainside (I've been told that the area surrounding the Wall is much prettier in the spring). I started falling behind in the hike because I was taking so many pictures. Everywhere I looked, there was something scenic and beautiful that I felt I needed to be captured so I could remember it forever, although I must admit (and I've felt this a lot in my travels), none of the pictures I took really did justice to how powerful and beautiful the Great Wall truly is.

 

We spent about 7 hours on the reconstructed part of the Wall that day, going up and down the trecherous and steep stone steps between each beacon. I could have spent even longer there, I was enjoying myself so much. But eventually we made our way down, back to the busses, and I was surprised to see snow on the path we were walking. I had forgotten it is still winter, especially since I had just spent the day being overheated from the hike. A friend of mine from Hawai'i had never seen snow until that day, so we spent some time making snow angels on the path. Normal, I know. Needless to say, we all slept very well that night, and readied ourselves for the Great Wall part 2 that we would be hiking the next day.

 

After breakfast (which was quickly becoming my favorite meal of the day simply because it lacked Chinese food), we left for a different section of the Great Wall. We had to park the buses and walk through a small farming village in order to get to this part of the Wall. As we walked down the dirt path, past small houses on one side and piles of hay with chickens running all over the place, we saw people coming out of the woodwork to watch us passing through. It's a strange thing, feeling like an alien all the time. I'm sure these people rarely, if ever, see white people, and so to watch a gaggle of us walking right past their homes was very strange for them.

 

We passed the village and soon found ourselves going uphill, our path slowly becoming steeper the farther we walked. I found myself wondering when we were going to reach the Wall, when I realized that what we were climbing WAS the Wall. We had reached it and I had hardly noticed because I was expecting to see the same Wall I had seen the day before. This day, however, we were walking a part of the Wall that had NOT been reconstructed; the "ruined" part of the Wall. Looking ahead, I finally saw the familiar beacons and the stone structure that I had been expecting, but it looked different somehow. The ancient structure seemed almost part of the landscape around it.

 

The walk was much easier than it was the day before, not nearly as steep, but just as treacherous. You had to be especially careful walking downhill here because of all the small, loose rocks that you could slip on (and that I DID slip on, several times). We ate lunch inside one of the larger beacons, which consisted of...(drum roll please) MCDONALDS!! That's right...we had hired locals to backpack McDonald's up to the Great Wall for us. I ate fast food on the Great Wall of China. What a story.

 

Anyway, we reached the farthest we were allowed to walk before the Wall became a military base and got down off of it for the last time. Walking down the hill back toward the buses, I took one last look back at the Wall, feeling nostalgic about the time I had spent on this amazing structure over the past two days. The Great Wall was everything I had hoped it would be and more. It presented its challenges, some nearly impossible slopes and steps. It tested my balance, my stamina, and my determination, but in the end, it rewarded me with its incredible view. I had an amazing time on the Great Wall, and I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat.

 

That night, we stayed at the Marriot in a new area of Beijing. We were finally in the bright and colorful part of Beijing that I had imagined. We went out to dinner at a restaurant that was fancier than the ones we had been going to the last couple of days, and of course I was still gross from a day of hiking when we went there. But the food, although there were still many repeat Chinese dishes, was better than I expected it to be. We had duck, which was SO good. After that, we went back to the hotel to shower and get ready for a night out in Beijing!

 

Note to self: Do NOT drink and bring your cellphone out with you in China. You WILL be pickpocketed and you WILL lose your cellphone!!!! Yeah. Not the greatest night for me. However, I didn't let this one mishap ruin the whole trip for me, especially since it was my fault to begin with. So I decided to go back to the hotel and just get some sleep.

 

The last morning of the trip, we got up wayyyy too early to check out of the hotel and go to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was strange to be in the middle of the Square, after watching so much footage of the history of this place, that massacre that occured here, and NOT be allowed to talk about it. According to Michelle, the Chinese police don't allow the people to discuss the events that took place here. It was strange to me to have that freedom of speech taken away from me, and in that moment, I began to appreciate that not everyone in the world is blessed with the same freedoms that I have come to expect as an American.

 

We walked through the Square and followed our tour guides down a tunnel in order to cross the street and get to the Forbidden City, which once served as the imperial palace, where the Emperor of China would live, and now houses the Palace Museum. Walking through this expansive structure, with its intricate and colorful architecture, I was surprised each time we passed through another set of doors which led to yet another huge quad surrounded by even more walls. The palace seemed to stretch on forever. One of our tour guides, Marco, asked us, "If you were born in one of these rooms, and from that day on, you spent in a new room every night, how old would you be when you made it back to the room you were born in?" After several guesses, he told us, "You would be 26 years old." That's because there are 8,707 rooms in the Forbidden City.

 

After our tour through the Palace, we got back on the buses and went to a traditional Tea Ceremony. We sat around a few tables and got to sample many different teas, and all of them were fragrant, sweet and delicious in their own way. Then we had our last meal of Chinese food for lunch (Thank God!) before heading to the airport, where we left for Hong Kong to meet up with the ship.