How to quit your job and travel around the world
The true China had infinitely exceeded the concepts and the words with which I had tried to visualize and foregauge it. China was no longer an idea; it had assumed flesh and bone. It is that incarnation I am going to tell about. -Simone de Beauvoir, The Long March, 1955
Since great love affairs are made on first impressions, here are mine about Beijing. It is as if someone (Mao, I am looking at you) placed a great steel lid over a pot of air pollution and construction dust and damp fog, added 15 million people, and then let it sit there unmoving. Ok, it's a little grey and gross here, but hey it's China. There are splashes of red.
We arrived at 6:30 p.m. , breezed through customs and got into a cab (85 yuan) to our hotel Fang Yaun (298 yuan/night). After looking three rooms because of bad pervasive sewage smell, we got inot a decent one before napping and heading out for a walkabout. We are in Dongcheng, near the Forbidden City, and it is very quiet and not too full of people, at least at night. There is construction every ten feet and was going on at 1 a.m. when we went for our walk. We found some noodles and dumplings (the "seafood" was mysteriously pink and soft and fatty, much like a pork byproduct) and bottles of TsiangTsao beer (8 yuan or about one dollar). We are heading out to Tiannamen and the Forbidden City now for our first excursion.
Off to the airport! According to my friend Carole, Air China has notoriously icky food, so I have two black-and-whites for fortification. Landing in Beijing Saturday evening.
Last year this time I was wrapping up the final leg of my trip through India, and appropriately enough we are leaving this Friday for China and then onto Pakistan. As I am in packing mode once again, I am more or less reprising what I took last year with a few exceptions. I learned what worked for me, what I wanted, what could have been left behind. This time, items that didn’t make the cut:
iPod: Although I used it to upload and store photos on the road, I didn’t use it enough to justify the paranoia of losing it, and the hassle of charging it.
Above-the-knee skirts: Outside of Thailand and a few touristy places in Vietnam, I didn’t really like the feeling of being so exposed when the local women wore mostly pants or saris. And pants were cooler.
Nice sunglasses: These were promptly lost somewhere in Cambodia, which I regret.
Keen sports sandals: I had anticipated wearing these all the time, but I soon found that they #1) scream western tourist and #2) got really hot under the straps and #3) annoying to put on and off to go into shoes-off places like temples.
Fewer meds: I rarely took anything on the road. Cipro is a MUST but everything else you can buy or don’t need much, so I am just taking a few of each.
Here’s what I am taking:
Clothes
Capri-length quick-dry pants (they are the "Intercontinental" style from Patagonia and I love them.)
Light long linen pants
Light cotton short sleeve blouse
1 dry fit tee shirt
4 tank tops
Light cotton long sleeve Thai-style overshirt
Kameez-style Indian cotton tunic top
1 lightweight wool sweater – cardigan style
1 calf-length cotton leggings
Low top converse
Lightweight flip flops
Hiking boots
1 pair hiking socks
4 pair very thin cotton anklets
Lightweight rain jacket
Sun hat
Cheap sunglasses
Big cotton scarf
1 dry fit sports bra
1 normal bra
5 dry fit underwear (again, from Patagonia. These are great.)
Toiletries – All bottles 3 oz. or less
Shampoo/conditioner
Face soap
Moisturizer with SPF
Rock crystal deoderant
Small body powder
Travel towel
Liquid body soap
Comb
Toothbrush/toothpaste/floss
Lip balm/lipstick/mascara
Ibuprofen - 10
Ambien - 8
Cipro - 20
Benadryl - 4
Purell Hand sanitizer
Itch cream
Bug spray
Oil of oregano – I am told this is very good at helping to prevent parasites. I DO NOT want to come back with an amoeba like my last trip.
Tampons
Other
2 extra passport pics
Photocopies of everything
Digital camera and charger
Extra memory card
Lens cleaner
Film ELPH camera (this may be redundant, but there were times when my regular camera wasn’t charged and I wanted to take photos. Also between two of us, I think this will work.)
Small binoculars
reading books (see picture. I am not taking Avedon's Exile from the Land of Snow as I am reading now, but it is *excellent*)
travel guides
small language guide
notebook/pens
travel chess
lightweight sleeping bag (in lieu of sleep sheet, which is a must)
small battery fan
small flashlight
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