Day 118 - Lost in Beijing

Okay, for anyone that is coming to Beijing my first and best recommendation is get a map. Actually get three of them in all different sizes. Preferably in English although have a Chinese version also. Beijing is big. Super big. Beijing municipality has a total area of 16800 sq km, roughly the size of Belgium. Today taught me a few lesson. Awoken as usual at a ridiculous hour, not impressed, within an hour we had ourselves booked into where the boys were staying. The Beijing Downtown Backpackers Accommodation in Nan Luo Gu Alley, highly recommended on Hostelworld and by a few others. Only thing is on the directions page they only had info if coming from the airport or Beijing Railway Station. The street name, came up a blank on Google Maps, so we had no way of knowing how to get there by metro. I did a bit more searching and found a listing for the youth hostel name in Google Maps. Delighted with the info we headed off. We took the local subway to the nearest station I saw on the map. We arrived on another crazy busy highway, with no address and wondering how we'd get there. Thankfully I had the number in my last dialed numbers. We jumped into a cab, although just prior to that I asked an attentive soldier where the area was, we were looking for. He pointed to the right. Our taxi took the instructions off the BDBA staff on the phone and we were off. It all seemed too easy. We headed off and I kept checking the map. Roughly knowing where we were supposed to be going I knew something was wrong. Ian kept telling me to relax. Maps are one thing I love. Always have and from my rough calculations we were well off the mark. Next he headed west in the opposite direction of where we were supposed to be heading. Feeling slightly stressed the further we drove I rang the hostel and got them to confirm our destination to the driver. A moment later he handed it back to me. I asked the girl where the hostel was based on the area I had seen on the map. She confirmed that the driver knew where he was going or perhaps I had seen the wrong hostel. I relaxed a bit. Ten mins later we were driving through a row of some very smart Huan Tons with Chinese lanterns hanging from trees lining the laneway. We passed by Peking Downtown and Ian called out for the guy to stop. I was like, no its definitely the Beijing Downtown. Thinking we were lost we called the hostel again, only to find out we were in the right place. We arrived in the place and I gave out about the name on the outside of the door. She said it was the same thing. This I didn't quite agree with and didn't gain any knew friends. We checked in and jumped on the lads asleep in the room. I greeted Eoghan with some wonderful BO after not showering for the last two mornings and Ia n hopped on Aidan. The boys had only being asleep a few hours. We caught up on our adventures and got some showers.

We got a taxi with some help of a local. The Forbidden City was closed for the day by the time we got our shit together so I recommended Tian'anmen Sq. It was bloody freezin outside as we walked across the square. Aidan was in hilarious form, still drunk after only getting to bed at 1pm. Peter looked absolutely wrecked. Within minutes the boys were complaining of the cold and wanting to get a taxi home. I decided perhaps a bit of sightseeing was in order so I dragged them to the metro. They had no idea where they where. So like sheep they followed. Funny enough I was a bit lost myself. I knew roughly, although after leaving the map back in the hostel I was riding on a bit of luck. First thing was we got off at the wrong station. Next we went back one stop, now sure I had it. We walked out of the metro and I was totally lost. The boys were looking at me with a look of "are you serious?". Suddenly I saw the astronomy observatory I had visited the first day. That didn't help. I was still a bit lost. It must have being the stop before this one. LOL. Aidan, hangover looming was, "okay, I'm getting a taxi and going". I knew getting a taxi was going to be insane. No one listened. So, I asked for the hostel flyer and headed off to the metro. When I walked back into the station, a woman was frantically trying to get someone to understand her, asking people, "Do you speak english?". In all the bustle of the evening rush no one was stopping to help. As soon as she saw me, she was, "Do you speak English?" I asked her how I could help. The poor lady had being standing outside for over an hour trying to get a taxi. Another warning for you. Taxis can be fairly hard to get at times, especially during rush hour. Secondly, if you don't speak Mandarin a lot of taxi drivers will not give you the time. Thirdly, if your destination is on the other side of the city, they will probably not bring you there. Feigning ignorance they will wave you no. Sometimes you just need to sit there, ignore their franctics noises and hope they'll bring you home. Taxis are cheap. The longest possible journey from one side of the city to the other will be no more than €15. Generally most fares are two to three euros max.

The lady was lost. She had the card from the hotel although no directions. She had no idea which metro to get. Most public maps are written purely in Chinese so they are of not much use. I rang her hotel on my mobile. No one spoke english so we were in the same boat. We asked one of the staff to help and they pointed at one of the stops on the metro. It was a start. I began the journey with lady as she was heading in my direction. As we walked and chatted I realised how stressed she was. She was from Morocco and worked for the government. She was over doing a workshop and had only arrived the day before. She was finding it very difficult with no one speaking english. We spoke about Ireland and Morocco. I learnt a lot about a country I knew nothing about. We got lost and took the wrong metro line so we had to come back on ourselves and start again. We finally arrived at her station an hour later. It had being a fantastic journey and time to spend with someone. Somewhere along the way I had decided to make sure she got home. We exited the station at her stop. It took two taxis before someone would take her and knew the address written on the card. I gave her a hug and kiss and she was so looked grateful as she headed off into the madness that is Beijing.

5 minutes, and one metro stop later I was walking down the street not far from our hostel. Another row of Huan-tons where being rebuilt and kitted out along the roadside. Local are beginning to realise the money that can be made from them. On the way back I got to see the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower all lit up and standing majestically in the night sky. Another 10 minutes I was back. The boys were playing pool and online. Myself and Eoghan headed to the local bar to read a book and me to write the blog. We sat, ate some snacks and drank a few pints. Cheap stuff was only 20rmb a pint. Not bad tasting. By the time the place was closing I was fairly tipsy. Most of the days blog written. Eoghan was chatting some hot German bird up. We headed back. I was so wrecked and crashed immediately.