"There are 9 million bicycles in Beijing- That's a fact!"

OK so we didn't actually count them but there were a lot of bicycles so we'll have to trust Katie Melua's song lyrics on that one. There were so many that they even had their own wide cycle lane to give some protection against the crazy Chinese roads!

So on our first full day we visited this little known tiny wall called The Great Wall of China! Correction, it was HUGE! We thought we were fairly fit but the 1000+ steps proved otherwise! Once we got to the wall itself all the way at the top it was so worth it! We couldn't have asked for a better day, clear blue skies in every direction and the perfect temperature so we didn't get too hot! Ellen even got sun burnt (much to the amusement of our local tour guide!).

We are rather limited as to how many pictures we can post on the blog but for those of you who have facebook we have over 200 photos on there between us! However here is our favourite photo, us doing the CONGA on the great wall. A few years ago Bekah flippantly said that one day when she was better she would do the conga on the Great Wall of China, so here is the picture to prove it!

After walking up and down the wall we decided to take an alternative form of transport back down to the bottom. We tobogganed! It was so much fun and we  even got a video (which we will upload another time) and some great pictures.

The next day we went to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. Both were fantastic places and it was cool for Ellen to be in the square as it really bought some aspects of her history course to life. This is when we really noticed the attention our western looks were going to get us! We had a group photo the square and before we knew it we had crowds of people just watching us and taking photos of us for their own collection. We couldn't get our heads round why they wanted pictures of us and not the historical landmarks around them!

The Forbidden City was beautiful and tardis like with the outside hiding its sheer scale. There was so much detail in everything you saw that we took so many photos. It was great having our guide with us to tell us all the stories of the Emperor and the Ming Dynasty; we really learnt a lot that day.

These were just the highlights of our time in Beijing, we did so much that it's hard to know where to start! Ellen has been keeping a daily journal so what we might do is write that up in the next few posts. So keep your eyes peeled for further updates after we come back from Lady Elliot Island, Australia!!

Just a quick note

We were planning on updating this blog with lots of amazing posts about China. Unfortunately, using the YHA computer has meant that some of my pictures have got lost trying to upload onto here. I've only lost nine but as you can imagine, I don't want to risk losing more.

This means that we'll put on the China posts once we get to a 'proper' computer which won't be long.

All very annoying techy problems but as I said before, it should be worth the wait!

Half a world away

So this is the first post written officially on our travels. Sorry for the wait but being in China as great as it was, meant we were rather cut off. We also had no time to get on the Internet because we were so busy. Another factor was that the Internet over there is heavily restricted. But hey, we're here now so let's start from the beginning...

We caught our first flight which seems an age ago now. It was a long flight but we were kept well entertained by the films they had available to watch. We weren't subtle about being new fliers. Both of us were practically squealing in delight at all the free things we're being given and snapping away taking these photos. 

After another connecting flight from HongKong to Beijing, we finally reached our destination. By this point neither Ellen nor I were feeling so hot. What made us feel worse was when we were met by our transfer to the tour group. We were expecting a nice friendly welcome from a person that spoke good English. Instead, we were greeted by a man who was in a rush and spoke not a word of English. Actually, I tell a lie. He did say sorry when he dropped my case!
After a ride in scary Beijing traffic in an old banger of a car, we arrived in a lovely hotel and met the rest of the group. And so commenced the tour.

Some things we quickly discovered about China:

• It's BIG!
• Everyone stares at you because your white and in Ellen's case, Ginger haired.
• They don't stop trying to sell things to you.
• Their food is pretty good!
• The weather we had was amazing; blue sky everyday.
• The Chinese spit. A lot.

I have a feeling that this will take forever to update ALL of china in one go so I think what I'll do is put a few posts on throughout the next dew days if I can. I'm paying for Internet at the mo in our hostel and am running out of time!!

Below though are pictures of our first evening out to give you a taster of our Chinese lifestyle.

All packed...we think!

Our bags are all packed and within baggage weight allowance. However, I think they're still too heavy for Ed! here.

Being the gentlemen he's emerging to be, he tried to carry our bags to the car. Poor thing though, couldn't even reach the handles.

Meet Ed!

Introducing our other member of the around the world trip, Ed!

Expect to be seeing him photobombing some of our pictures on various points of the travel.

Wherever we go, Ed! goes...well that's the plan. If we lose him then Ed! will have to go it solo.

Mapping out the journey

Hey it's Bekah here!

This is a map that I bought some time ago now but today I mapped out our journey of the world with pins and string. I've been wanting to do this for a while and my Grandad (who is a map pinning and stringing expert) is up visiting us so we did it together.

For some reason I got childishly excited when it came to putting the string on. I guess it's because for the first time, I'm actually seeing our trip in a very physical form.

Stepping back and looking at the end result, it was interesting to see the different legs of plane journeys. It would be that our first plane ride of the trip turns out to be the longest wouldn't it! But it shouldn't be too bad as the excitement of flying will shorten the flight I'm sure. Well, it will for me!  

The last time I went on a plane was when I was 7 years old and even that's a bit hazy in my memories now.

My Nana and Grandad did actually point out to me as well that our flight footprint won't look quite how it does on the map. Apparently on the flight going home, we fly all the way up near Greenland.

I can't wait to go! Its exactly 4 weeks before we do.

Travel Preparations

So this is the first of what will hopefully be some pretty amazing posts on this new blog. My name is Bekah and the plan is that with my twin sister Ellen, we'll account our travel stories as they happen.

But before we can have fun travelling, there's lots of things we need to get in order before we go. At present, we're pretty much there with the main tasks but of course it's the small details that help tie everything up. For this, I find the best way to make sure everything gets done is a good old checklist.

Oh by the way, there is more on the other side of the page. But I'm sure there is a fair few things on there missing. I am finding though that I'm adding to it a bit everyday. Here's hoping that the list works!