The Dutch do Asia

 

“How do you feel about Beijing?”  Why not?  I responded to Brad.  “How about Thailand?”  Whyisthisevenaquestion,um,YEEEAAAAAAH!  And that’s essentially how Brad and I decided to start our adventures with stopovers in Beijing and Bangkok.  While booking our flights to Sydney this summer, Brad figured that we could still use the same amount of miles to fly to Sydney and throw in extra stopovers wherever possible, just so long they weren’t more than 24 hours.  Virtually free international travel is never a question in our book.  So the 23 hour whirlwind tours of Beijing and Bangkok were born, and we were off last week.

Of course, Brad and I decided that maybe international travel didn’t quite provide optimum travel excitement, so Brad timed it nicely to get sick right before we left, and I needed to join the fun upon arrival in Beijing.  We had suddenly become THOSE PEOPLE on our flights.  Fortunately, neither of us had stomach issues, and we managed to change our seats on each flight to either exit or bulkhead seats and give our legs a break.  (We managed this in spite of the very sweet 4’10” Chinese ticket agent who-in spite of us standing right in front of her-could not comprehend why anyone would EVER give up their view in the window seats to get an exit.  The insanity!  We assured her we would sacrifice.  J)  Nonetheless, we were still able to make the most of our time in each country and enjoy it.  We’re definitely extremely grateful we had the chance to get a taste of each place.

This brings us from Seattle to San Francisco and then to Beijing.  We arrived later in the evening, and after getting through everything at the airport, we headed to our hotel in the city.  Our hotel was by Tiananmen Square, so we got to walk through on our way, which was really nice to see at that time since the outside to the Forbidden City is beautifully lit up and it just sort of instantaneously cements in your mind what your senses are screaming at you: you’re in a truly far off place.  While standing there, my mind reeled through the historic events that have taken place where we were standing, and the monumental changes and defining movements represented by that square sunk in.  What a witness to the will of a people and the seeds of democratic action in spite of violence.  Awesome. 

 

The next morning, we initially set off on our mission to see the Great Wall.  In spite of trying most every mode of public transportation, we soon realized we wouldn’t be able to make it there and back in time due to a combination of hours-long lines, sold out train time slots, etc.  Instead, we decided to tour the Forbidden City, and we were not disappointed.  The entire complex continues on and on with palace after palace, expansive courtyard after courtyard, each one grander, larger or more ornate than the last.  “Impressive” is the word that comes to mind for the whole experience.

 

After that, the Olympic junkie in me couldn’t resist a quick hop over to see the Beijing Olympic Park (Bird’s Nest, Aquatic Center, etc.) and then we were back to the airport to head to Thailand.

The varied nature of Bangkok’s city-scape, transportation, and cultural offerings were differences that we really enjoyed about Bangkok.  We spent the night by the airport, then took public transportation into town until we got to the river, where we used the river boats (and later tuk-tuks) to see all kinds of temples. 

Tuk-Tuk, i.e., my next car!  As we were frequently reminded, the air conditioning is free.  There's nothing like the promise of free things to lure a Dutch woman into a vehicle made for someone half her size.

Our favorite was probably Wat Arun, but we had to give the Thai people some credit for original temple names of some of the others we saw (e.g. “Temple of the Happy Buddha”, “Temple of the Reclining Buddha”, etc.).  We also took a tuk-tuk to the Golden Mount to climb the Golden Stupa, which provided an awesome view of the city. 

Wat Arun - extremely steep steps!

After seeing the Grand Palace, drinking out of a coconut, hearing the life stories of a variety of very friendly Thai people, and a bit of shopping, we were back at the airport to head to Australia.  Overall, we loved how friendly the Thai people were, enjoyed the sights and travel on the river, were amazed at the intricacy and ritualism of the temples, and became huge fans of Thai Airways J (we highly recommend their service!)     





Temple of the Happy Buddha

Golden Mount

I’m hoping to post in the next week or two about our first little while in Sydney, but I’ll just sum it for now.  We’ve loved the people, experienced some minor challenges, and are seeing God’s dare-I-say twisted sense of humor in our lives (read: Janelle’s adventures in gymnastics J … more to come on that later).  We’re taking it all in and thankful for this chance to experience life from a different perspective!