Humm ok then! Were moving on today from Beijing and going to xi’an via an over night train! It will take about 12 hours! We leave at 9ish tonight! Not too sure how I feel about it! I’m just feeling like I’m getting used to Beijing so moving on again and packing up our bags has just reminded me of leaving home! Feeling a bit unsettled at the moment! I guess I will have to get used to this as there will be a lot of changes over the next few months! I can’t wait till we get to Oz and we meet up with laura and my auntie!! Will be nice to see some familier faces!! I can’t believe that after wanting to go traveling for so long that after 6 days away from home I’m already missing everyone!! I think it’s because china is very hard going and your on the go all the time!! I think by the time I get to Oz I will be fine as it will be a bit easier going! Not sure how were going to get to Oz yet mind you!! We have a flight already booked from Thailand but at the moment we have only got as far as booking a train to xi’an and we have been looking for trains and flights to get us out of there and it’s proving either very difficult or very expensive!! What a nightmare!!!!!
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What and understatement!! It was amazing!! Im very glad that I did it!
We decided that after a day of people staring at me and wanting my photo all the time that instead of going to the local part of the great wall that we would go on a tour instead!! We went to the hiking part of the wall which was a 3 an a half hour drive away!! There were very few locals there and I can see why!!! It was extreamly hard!!!
We did 10k in 3 hours!! It was unreal in parts!! There were 90 degree parts to the wall with no proper steps that we had to get up!! We litrally were on our hands and knees for some of it pulling ourselves up!! It had massive drops down the side as well so one bad move and you were taking a flying lesson!! I can’t believe just how bad some of the areas were. But we survived it and my god what an experiance it was!!
Andy says he would never do it again but I think I would! It was difficult but at the same time looking back now it was a real achievement and I really enjoyed it!! Even though I can hardly move now as my body is in soo much pain!!
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Humm ok then, Beijing!!! What can I say?? It’s an experiance like no other!! Today I have been to the forbidden city, and tiananmen square They were both amazing places to visit. Andy and I hired a private tour guide for the forbidden city which was really good and would deffinatly recomend.
I got a bit fed up today because I couldn’t relax!! Everywhere we went I had people staring at me!! I know I’m different to them! At the end of the day Im nearly 6ft have blonde hair, green eyes and big boobs which is very different from the advage Chinese person but do they really have to stare at me??? People were even taking photos of me and asking if they could have a photo taken with me!!! WTF??? I really don’t understand what the big fuss is all about!! We have Chinese people in the uk and we don’t give it a second thought! Andy thinks we should get a tent and put me in it and let the locals pay for a photo with me!! Ha ha!! I can just see it now!! I would be sooo rich.
Tomorrow we are off to the great wall. We have decided to go on a tour! We are getting picked up at 6.15am and it’s a 3 and a half hour drive to the wall then a 4 hour hike and then the drive home! We could just walk the bit of the wall that is local to the area but apparently it will be packed out with Chinese people and I really can’t handle another day of being stared at. We were recomended the tour by the guy who owns our hostel. He said it’s where most western people go to walk the wall because it’s one of the best bits, just a shame it’s so far away! But still I’m really looking forward to it!
I have got to say that out of all the places I have been to so far Beijing is by far the worst when it comes to smells.. it’s extreamly bad in some areas and really nice in others depending on what’s being cooked and how clean the public toilets are!! Also kids don’t seem to understand what toilets are!! They just go in the middle of the street! I’ve also seen tons of people spitting which is just gross but it seems to be the norm over here! I guess it has something to do with the smog. It was fairly bad today!
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Well I made it!! I’m in Beijing!!! It’s really not what I was expecting! It’s better!!! Were stopping at sitting on the city Walls road hostel and it’s really lovely! It’s very basic and traditional but that’s what makes it soo good! I’m really jet lagged still at the moment and I’m shattered but I guess I will have to get used to that!
It will be our first proper day tomorrow and I can’t wait to see what it’s like. It’s really cheep here tho! A bottle of water costs 20p!! Our meal tonight cost a whole £4!!!
We have just booked our train to xi’an as well. We are getting a sleeper train on thursday night which takes 12 hours and we arrive at 9am on the Friday! It should be an interesting experiance!! I can’t believe how easy it has been so far to find our way around! It’s a bit daunting at first when you think about it but it really is very easy even if you do have to use sign language and diagrams to explain what your saying 
Really looking forward to our trip now!! Oh and andy got stopped at imergration!! It was very funny but a bit scary! He was taken into an interview room and asked loads of questions!
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Well here it is!!! The first day of our travels. I’m curently on the 2nd train of the day and heading down to London! All the goodbyes have been said and it’s now just andy and me and one huge world to go and explore!! I don’t think it’s really hit me yet! I’m guessing it will when I finally reach china!
Update… Well we are now at the hotel, just had room service which was very very good! I’m very impressed with the hotel. Just chilling now and having a yummy hot chocolate from costa then it’s early to bed for me as I’m shattered after only having 3 hours sleep last night and 7 hours of travelling today!
Well it’s the big day tomorrow, china here we come!!!!
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Here we go then! The last few days of the countdown till our travels!! One last day at work tomorrow and then that’s it! I have the whole world at my feet!!
I’ve been getting really nervous today, it’s really starting to hit home now how huge this is for me! I think I’ve gone past excitement and I’m now just really nervous and scared! I’ve said my final goodbyes to my dad and my inlaws today and I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet! It’s all a bit sureal. I’m sure it will hit me like a ton of bricks at some point though and turn me into an emotional wreck!
For now, here is a Thought for the day, supplied by my lovely sister…
“You cannot discover new oceans until you have the courage to loose site of the shore!”
It makes a lot of sense to me right now. But even if I do have the courage to loose site of the shore I’m still gonna miss everyone loads!!!!
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Well I’ve had a day off work today and I have literally done everything that I needed to do before we leave to go traveling! I still have one or two last minute things to take care of but most of it’s done now!!
2 more days left at work and that’s me done for the year! I can’t really believe it’s all happening yet! I’m nearly there now! Roll on Friday 
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And what a day its been so far. I feel completely drained. I think my body has just got to this last week and gone enough is enough I cant take anymore!!! I could sleep for a week! I guess its just as well that I have a 10 hour flight to china to sleep on.
Im really starting to feel a huge mixture of feelings now. Im really happy, sad, scared, excited and nervous!! I really need to do this and I honestly cant wait now!! but I don’t want to leave everyone behind for 4 months!! I even had a panic attack this afternoon at work. I went really hot and dizzy and felt really sick! I thought I was going to pass out. Just hope that I can hold it together this week otherwise it mighggt just end up getting a bit too much for me to handle.
Tonight is the last free night that hubby and I have, so we are spending it loading up the car with the last few things to go into storage and were also sorting out what clothes we are taking with us and packing our bags up!! Scary stuff!!!
Luckily I have a day off work tomorrow so im going to sort all the last minute things out like cleaning the car before it goes into storage. I also have my tax return to get in. I always end up leaving stuff to the last minute.
I think I need to write a list tonight of everything that still needs to be done and work my way through it tomorrow.
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How scary does that sound????? OMG!!!!! 1 Week today and I will be on my way to China!!!! 16 whole weeks of freedom!
Im actually struggling to write anything at the moment. I cant really put into words how I’m feeling. Maybe I will just leave this post for now, The past week I haven’t stopped to think about anything, I’ve just kept myself really busy and the next few days are going to be madness as well so I don’t think I have quite taken it all in yet.I feel like i’m in a bit of a daze.
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All it takes to light up the sky above you is one bright star. Last night I was stood in the garden looking up at the sky contemplating the big stuff in life and there was this one very bright star above me. It was as if it had been put there to look down over me to reassure me that everything was going to be ok.
I had a phone call after that from a friend, he had read my last post and he said basically that I shouldn’t worry about what other people think about me and that whoever I am is fine with him and that if my friends and family love me that they will love me for who I am and not who they want me to be. We spoke for a while on the phone and he really cheered me up. I was on a complete downer yesterday. I guess its all getting a bit stressful now that its getting so close.
Little bro… you were my star last night, all it took was some very heart felt words from you and you managed to light up my life for a few short hours. Just as a star lights up the sky! Thank you x x
Thought for the day…
The path is not always easy and at times you will stumble and fall, but the reward of doing so is freedom.
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