Since I last left an entry we have been to so many places. From Kathmandu we flew to Bangkok and spent 13 long hours in the airport where the majority of people were wearing medical masks since the SARS outbreak. The odd thing was parents were wearing masks but their young children and babies were not. Pat and I were a bit disturbed by it all and wondered if we should have had one. On the plane before we landed in China we were given a card to fill out to ensure we did not have any SARS symptoms we were asked to check the box if we were experiencing any coughing, fever, shortness of breath, etc. When we left the plane we gave the card to the woman at the desk who I assumed was supposed to be holding passengers that had checked yes for any of the boxes. I assumed wrong as all she did was take the card not looking at it once and put it in the pile as we walked right by her. Later when we were at our hostel we met a man who told us he checked that he had been coughing and they didn’t even stop him! How crazy is that the number one symptom of SARS and he got right through no questions asked. It turns out he has had this cough for awhile without any further progression. It all turned out fine we are healthy and are showing no symptoms.
Our main reason for going to Beijing, China was to take a journey on the Trans Siberian railway to Russia, but unfortunately that did not work out because of the complications of getting a Russian Visa. Since we were in Beijing we thought we would see some sights. Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City and a few Beijing parks were our first stops around town, but without a doubt The Great Wall of China was the highlight of China. We went to a non-touristy and unrestored section of the wall and actually with four other people hiked on the wall for 5 hours. Besides a few people here and there us 8 were the only ones walking. The wall is amazing and very beautiful as it traverses up and down the rolling hills for as far as the eye can see. The second highlight of China was the Chinese Acrobatic show that we went to see. Pat and I were thinking about going to see the Chinese Opera, but then Sarah a Canadian girl we hiked the Wall with told us she was going and asked us to join her. It was a really cool show. We met a funny Chinese guy named Rory who spoke English, but had many questions about slang, and odd phrases that are used when we speak.
We are now in Europe and are going to hike the West Highland Way Trail in Scotland. Meeting our friend Matt, who we are staying with here in London, was very exciting. We also met his girlfriend Susan and I knew we would get along well after our extensive conversation about dogs! We have seen some sights in London in the two days we have been here. The city is beautiful and so old. We have been to the Natural History Museum, the British Museum which has got to be one of the best museums I have ever visited, we saw Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, also included in these two days of sightseeing was Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park (gorgeous park), We also went to a cool pub The Churchill Arms and had a yummy pint of Guiness (first one in 6 months) and great Thai food. Susan and I fell in love with a cute little Westie that was hanging out with his owner in the pub (that is really cool thing here and even when we were in Ireland 3 years ago, dogs are allowed in the pubs). Anyway the dog’s name was Billy and we got a picture with him…bet ya can’t wait to see it. The buses are a very convenient way of getting around the city and the subway a.k.a the tube is also good public transport. Last night us four went to the symphony at the Royal Festival Hall and that was exciting. I had never been to the symphony and I was amazed. I couldn’t believe I was seeing the symphony in London for the cost of 8 British pounds, pretty good seats too! The skyline from the from the balcony outside of the Royal Festival hall was beautiful, Big Ben looked gorgeous and the weather has been unusually sunny and warm for London.
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