Another early start in Korea, needing to catch the 8 AM bus to busan to get to the airport. The bus ride was uneventful, and apparently i snore on buses too (thats what brenda and andrew said at least). Arriving in Busan led andrew straight to a McDonalds, while that is not my breakfast of choice, he relished in the egg mcmuffins and hash brownsm, it seems he doesn't get that very often and when he does he's quite gluttonous!
The airport was a breeze, and landing in China was an entire non event, i expected questions and some delays clearing through immigration but it was almost as quick as clearing immigration in Korea. Right out of the immigration area it was to the tram to get to the front of the airport, from there i saw Sunny my chinese tour guide (which might have been overkill) with a sign that had my name on it....straight to the car and the great wall.
The car ride was nice, i was very suprised at the lack of traffic. I was expecting the roads to be cram packed with people and cars and it was like any other major city on a sunday, not a lot of traffic and not a lot of people out.
The great was was awesome! i got the cable car ticket to the top to save time from taking the steps, not that i'm fat and out of shape, but that we had only a limited amount of time to see what i wanted to see in the short amount of time i had available. At the top we were able to see 4 towers and the wall just seemed to stretch on forever, i could have spent several days there taking pictures and just following it around. Getting to the top provided a bit of a weather shift, as the wall follows the ridge line of the mountains, in fact so much so for a weather shift that it started to snow.
After the great wall it was back into Beijing to see the Olympic park. This was super cool, having watched the olympics every night when they were on in 08, it was great to see everything up close and personal. The Birds nest is just like it was on TV and the Aquatics center was even cooler with the green lights on and the design making it appear as though water was falling down in giant rain drops...being there around dusk proved nice to get the pictures with the lights on for each of the buildings.
After the Olympic Park it was off to Tianenman Square. Unfortunately it had fallen dark by now and the park was closed. i was able to see the monuments all lit up and got some good pictures. by this time it was around 9PM and it was off to the hotel to check in and get situated to go find something to eat.
the hotel was nice, just what i needed for the overnight, a bed and a place to shower before getting up at 4 to head back to the airport for a 730 flight to mongolia. Once i was checked in and in the room, i sat down, which turned out to be a big mistake cause the next thing i knew it was 4 AM and ready to start the new day without any supper, oh well, at least there will be food on the plane!
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