I was trying to think of something witty to call this post, but I think Greg's already used "From Russia With Love". And there's only so many Bond movie titles to go around.
(By the way, I've also updated Mongolia, so be sure to scroll down and read that first!)
We arrived in Irkutsk early Saturday morning, after another interminable train journey. Actually, the trains are not so bad, it's the ridiculous amount of time doing the border crossings that really gets right on your raving titties. We thought five-and-a-half hours from China into Mongolia was bad - that was a cakewalk compared to getting into Russia. We arrived at the border at 4am Friday, but everyone was still asleep. So the Mongolia checks didn't begin until 9am. Then the Russian checks didn't start until about midday. It was close to 4pm when we finally got on our merry way again.
What helps to pass the time is watching the amazing amounts of racketeering going on before you. When we first boarded the train in U-B, we chucked out a bag of something, as well as some boxes of kitchen scales. That really pissed off the stewardesses, as it was part of their stash that they were taking into Russia, no doubt to sell at high mark-ups. The passengers were in on it too - we had to stop a woman who wanted us to hide a boxful of cheap cigarettes above our sleepers. No thanks, lady, we don't want to get stung with the import tax when the Russians do their searches!
It was crazy - one guy was standing near the toilet at the back of our carriage trying to flog fake sneakers; women kept walking up and down with far too many denim jackets to be their own; and in one cabin people were taping packets of cigarettes under the tables to try to hide them!
Anyway, after everyone got through Customs unscathed - we assume bribery was involved! - we headed into the Land of Bears and eventually arrived Irkutsk at 7:30am Saturday. Our guide was a young student named Kostya. Our first stop was a pharmacy, as Andrew needed some bandages for his hand (see last post). I also had a desperate need for a more personal medication - I don't like to be obvious, but if I say it was a common feminine complaint I think most people will get the idea. ;) After embarrassing Kostya (the poor guy's studying medicine but didn't appear to have taken "Feminine Hygiene 101" yet), I employed some rather creative mime to try to get across to the Russian chemist what I wanted. She eventually pinging when I started yelling "Diflucan!" at her. Thank God, they stocked it, and I happily shelled out the 400 rubles (about $20) for that beautiful little pill. ;)
We continued onto Lake Baikal, which breaks more records than Ian Thorpe on steroids. It's the world's oldest lake, it's the deepest, it holds 20% of the world's freshwater supplies. And it is stunning. We only saw a small part from the village where we stayed, but we did take a fun boat ride out to the famous Shaman rock in the Angara river, which is the only river to flow OUT of the Lake (all the others flow into it). Greg, Phil and our guide Kostya also braved the cold to have a quick dip in the Lake, which they reported back as "goolie-shrinking cold". Karen, Andrew and I went in up to our knees - it was very crisp but I was happy the rest of me was esconsed in a fleece!
Saturday night saw us have a traditional Russian "banya" or sauna. We got whipped with the birch leaves and everything - it was very relaxing. However with my recent head cold I've been easily overcome by heat recently, so I had to make a break for the cool room pretty early on. I thought Greg would have trouble with the sauna as he's not good with heat, but he enjoyed it too.
Lake Baikal's been a refreshing break from the repetiveness of the train, and has given us a bit of energy ahead of the upcoming encounters with Moscow and St Petersburg. I would recommend it to all travellers. Keep in mind though this IS Siberia, and it's cold. Yes, even in summer!
And now, off to the train for four days! The others have gone to buy games so we don't go stark-raving mad, and I think a toga night has been planned. I'll keep you posted!
Dosvedanya! Natalie.
Aug 28, 2006
Five days in Mongolia
Sunday
We arrive in the capital Ulan Baatar dirty and smelly after what felt like a lifetime on the train. Met by our irrepressibly bubbly tour guide Tsetsgee (pronounced "Sets-gay" and meaning "flower"), we're taken to our hotel for showers, then out to the "Great Mongolian" restaurant for the biggest freaking mixed grill you've ever seen. After instant-f***ing-noodles, it's a great relief. The pub band, complete with traditional kick-arse boots and throat-singing, rocks on. Then we go home to sleep.
Monday
We take a tour around the city, stopping on the way at a cashmere shop. I splash out on an oh-so-cute hooded sweatshirt in cherry red. It's a bit more than I would have liked to pay, but much cheaper compared to anything 100% cashmere is in Oz, plus it has "Made in Mongolia" on it. We eat at a Mongolian barbeque for lunch - which involves filling your bowl with all manner of raw meat, vegetables, noodles, sauces etc, and watching as some very skilled men cook it up on a massive grill using extraordinarily long tongs.
Monday arvo we head out of town to our ger camp. The ger is the traditional Mongolian home - a round dwelling constructed of wooden beams, with a felt interior for warmth and a white canvas exterior to keep off the rain, slow, sleet and whatever else the constantly changing environment can throw at them. Many locals still live in them as they're cheap. Many have TV now too! It's cosy with 6 people, but there was a fair walk to our shower and toilet block. I would find out why on Tuesday.
Tuesday
Breakfast was followed by a long hike. I should point out I've been suffering from a few health problems - mainly a cold, an upset tummy, and a blister the size of Tasmania on my left heel (although there's another condition I shall detail in my next entry - something to look forward to). Hiking wasn't really my idea of a good time, but I did it nonetheless. On the way, the boys climbed a big bit of rock called "Turtle Rock" (although it looked more like a certain part of a man's anatomy if you ask me), and found - a decapitated horse's head. No joke. Most Mongolians are Buddhist, but some practice Shamanism, which is essentially nature worship. The horse's head was most likely a sacrifice. Otherwise the Mafia are making big incursions into Genghis Khan's old stomping ground!
After a picnic lunch at a hillside Buddhist temple, we (thankfully) took the mini-bus back to camp, and headed out for horse-riding. Rock on, I think. I suck at walking up hills, but damn, I'm good on a horse. So out of five people, who do you think gets thrown off the horse? Thanks right, Girl Clumsy. It wasn't actually my fault, just a mix-up in intentions between me and my horse (whom I'd nicknamed Stewie as Mongolians don't name their horses - and even if they did I probably wouldn't be able to pronounce it). However my dismount was amazingly elegant, and I missed landing in a cow pat, which is always good. I also got straight back up on the horse, as I was uninjured by the fall. And really, riding sturdy but small Mongolian horses along a beautiful stretch of countryside, passing gers and nomadic families, yaks, other horses waiting to be milked (fermened mare's milk is the drop of choice round these parts), cows, camels and dogs - life really is good. Add a bunch of Aussies singing "We come from the Land Down Under" and you've really got a posse together!
To celebrate, Tuesday night turned into Vodka Night. Another Vodkatrain group (this one with 15 people and coming the other way) had arrived at camp and were making a fair racket. So THAT's why the Vodkatrain gers are so far away from the restaurant and shower section!!! They had started the party, but by goodness, our group put in a bloody good effort. I even had two shots, which for a non-drinker, is a fair whack. Unfortunately Greg got a wee bit completely plastered, and was a bit ill afterwards. He's all good now though! Other highlights of the night:
*Phil, our Sydney air-traffic controller, breaking up the party by donning "budgie smugglers" and a miner's head lamp, and walking around the ger saying "The Budgies have landed!".
*Andrew, our Sydney IT expert, stumbling trollied around the ger, and accidently grabbing the ger stove fire chimney for support. It was extremely hot, and the poor guy is still suffering from intense hand blisters! Ow!
*Karen, our English backpacker, bursting into giggles everytime somebody mentioned "sausage".
*Tsetsgee, our guide, teaching the Mongolian drinking game, which required singing before every shot. I'm proud to say my version of "Baby Got Back" got a standing ovation, mainly because I incorporated big booty-style dancing.
And I can't really go into any more details, because what happened on Vodkatrain, stays on Vodkatrain!
Wednesday
Feeling more than a little sore and sorry for ourselves, we had a lazy day by a nearby river, then Phil broke out his copy of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" - ahem, authorised of course, ahem.
Thursday
Said goodbye to the ger camp, and headed back into U-B. We got laundry done, had a good lunch at the City Nomads buffet (try the horse!), then got supplies for our next bout of training. No more god-dammed noodles though. We still had leftovers from Beijing!
And that is where I shall leave it for now, dear readers. Digest all of that, and you'll be ready for a hearty Mongolian meal of mutton!
Everyone else has left the internet cafe now - I must be the only one crapping on this much!
Take care, Natalie.
We arrive in the capital Ulan Baatar dirty and smelly after what felt like a lifetime on the train. Met by our irrepressibly bubbly tour guide Tsetsgee (pronounced "Sets-gay" and meaning "flower"), we're taken to our hotel for showers, then out to the "Great Mongolian" restaurant for the biggest freaking mixed grill you've ever seen. After instant-f***ing-noodles, it's a great relief. The pub band, complete with traditional kick-arse boots and throat-singing, rocks on. Then we go home to sleep.
Monday
We take a tour around the city, stopping on the way at a cashmere shop. I splash out on an oh-so-cute hooded sweatshirt in cherry red. It's a bit more than I would have liked to pay, but much cheaper compared to anything 100% cashmere is in Oz, plus it has "Made in Mongolia" on it. We eat at a Mongolian barbeque for lunch - which involves filling your bowl with all manner of raw meat, vegetables, noodles, sauces etc, and watching as some very skilled men cook it up on a massive grill using extraordinarily long tongs.
Monday arvo we head out of town to our ger camp. The ger is the traditional Mongolian home - a round dwelling constructed of wooden beams, with a felt interior for warmth and a white canvas exterior to keep off the rain, slow, sleet and whatever else the constantly changing environment can throw at them. Many locals still live in them as they're cheap. Many have TV now too! It's cosy with 6 people, but there was a fair walk to our shower and toilet block. I would find out why on Tuesday.
Tuesday
Breakfast was followed by a long hike. I should point out I've been suffering from a few health problems - mainly a cold, an upset tummy, and a blister the size of Tasmania on my left heel (although there's another condition I shall detail in my next entry - something to look forward to). Hiking wasn't really my idea of a good time, but I did it nonetheless. On the way, the boys climbed a big bit of rock called "Turtle Rock" (although it looked more like a certain part of a man's anatomy if you ask me), and found - a decapitated horse's head. No joke. Most Mongolians are Buddhist, but some practice Shamanism, which is essentially nature worship. The horse's head was most likely a sacrifice. Otherwise the Mafia are making big incursions into Genghis Khan's old stomping ground!
After a picnic lunch at a hillside Buddhist temple, we (thankfully) took the mini-bus back to camp, and headed out for horse-riding. Rock on, I think. I suck at walking up hills, but damn, I'm good on a horse. So out of five people, who do you think gets thrown off the horse? Thanks right, Girl Clumsy. It wasn't actually my fault, just a mix-up in intentions between me and my horse (whom I'd nicknamed Stewie as Mongolians don't name their horses - and even if they did I probably wouldn't be able to pronounce it). However my dismount was amazingly elegant, and I missed landing in a cow pat, which is always good. I also got straight back up on the horse, as I was uninjured by the fall. And really, riding sturdy but small Mongolian horses along a beautiful stretch of countryside, passing gers and nomadic families, yaks, other horses waiting to be milked (fermened mare's milk is the drop of choice round these parts), cows, camels and dogs - life really is good. Add a bunch of Aussies singing "We come from the Land Down Under" and you've really got a posse together!
To celebrate, Tuesday night turned into Vodka Night. Another Vodkatrain group (this one with 15 people and coming the other way) had arrived at camp and were making a fair racket. So THAT's why the Vodkatrain gers are so far away from the restaurant and shower section!!! They had started the party, but by goodness, our group put in a bloody good effort. I even had two shots, which for a non-drinker, is a fair whack. Unfortunately Greg got a wee bit completely plastered, and was a bit ill afterwards. He's all good now though! Other highlights of the night:
*Phil, our Sydney air-traffic controller, breaking up the party by donning "budgie smugglers" and a miner's head lamp, and walking around the ger saying "The Budgies have landed!".
*Andrew, our Sydney IT expert, stumbling trollied around the ger, and accidently grabbing the ger stove fire chimney for support. It was extremely hot, and the poor guy is still suffering from intense hand blisters! Ow!
*Karen, our English backpacker, bursting into giggles everytime somebody mentioned "sausage".
*Tsetsgee, our guide, teaching the Mongolian drinking game, which required singing before every shot. I'm proud to say my version of "Baby Got Back" got a standing ovation, mainly because I incorporated big booty-style dancing.
And I can't really go into any more details, because what happened on Vodkatrain, stays on Vodkatrain!
Wednesday
Feeling more than a little sore and sorry for ourselves, we had a lazy day by a nearby river, then Phil broke out his copy of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" - ahem, authorised of course, ahem.
Thursday
Said goodbye to the ger camp, and headed back into U-B. We got laundry done, had a good lunch at the City Nomads buffet (try the horse!), then got supplies for our next bout of training. No more god-dammed noodles though. We still had leftovers from Beijing!
And that is where I shall leave it for now, dear readers. Digest all of that, and you'll be ready for a hearty Mongolian meal of mutton!
Everyone else has left the internet cafe now - I must be the only one crapping on this much!
Take care, Natalie.
Aug 21, 2006
Go go Genghis
Sain bainu, everyone!
That's hello in Mongolian - I'm still trying to master 'thank you', my pronunciation of which leaves all the locals laughing.
The Mongolian capital Ulaan-Baatar is surprisingly modera/liberal town - full of Soviet era architecture next to the traditional white "ger" huts. Today we're heading off to a ger camp to sleep in them for a few days - get the lay of the land, do some hiking, ride a horse, drink some fermented mare's milk, and so on.
Mongolia is a peculiar but charming mix of Russia and China - but as we've found out, they're a very proud people (you would be too if your greated ever hero conquered the world's biggest empire), so don't call them Chinese!
Train travel is a nice change to planes - athough sleeping in beds meant for shorter Asian people is leaving various parts of my body numb (arms and legs, that is!)
Gotta run - everything is going nicely except for this head cold I can't shake!
Talk soon, Natalie.
That's hello in Mongolian - I'm still trying to master 'thank you', my pronunciation of which leaves all the locals laughing.
The Mongolian capital Ulaan-Baatar is surprisingly modera/liberal town - full of Soviet era architecture next to the traditional white "ger" huts. Today we're heading off to a ger camp to sleep in them for a few days - get the lay of the land, do some hiking, ride a horse, drink some fermented mare's milk, and so on.
Mongolia is a peculiar but charming mix of Russia and China - but as we've found out, they're a very proud people (you would be too if your greated ever hero conquered the world's biggest empire), so don't call them Chinese!
Train travel is a nice change to planes - athough sleeping in beds meant for shorter Asian people is leaving various parts of my body numb (arms and legs, that is!)
Gotta run - everything is going nicely except for this head cold I can't shake!
Talk soon, Natalie.
Aug 18, 2006
The Ups and Downs of the Great Wall
That was officially the Hardest. Thing. Ever.
Yesterday The Wah and I climbed a 10km stretch of the Great Wall of China.
Ouch.
A bit of background. After our last postings, Greg and I joined up with the rest of our Vodkatrain tour gang. It's a small lot, which is excellent. There's Phil and Andrew, both from Sydney (but travelling separately), and Karen from Reading, England. We all got on well, had a fantastic Peking Duck dinner (at a restaurant suggested by our Vodkatrain guide, or "honcho", Peter), and decided on doing the Great Wall on Thursday. Phil had already done a bit of the Wall at Simitai, about 4 hours north of Beijing. It's a lot less touristy than the popular Badaling site, which everyone seemed to avoid. I was happy enough to go with the others, who all though the Simitai area was the best option. Had I known what I was getting into though, I think I would have kicked and screamed...
Our day started at 5am when I woke up with a thumping sore throat, brought on I think by the contrast of our dry air-conditioning with the heat and humidity outside. We then promptly slept in, due to an alarm snafu (Greg's department!). We were supposd to be in the lobby by 6:40am, by some stroke of luck we awoke at 6:30am, then scrambled ourselves onto the chartered mini-bus (transport we'd paid 120RMB each for - about $25).
The bus made several stops to pick up other people - mostly Canadians, Poms, and a few Frenchies. It took us until midday to reach Jinshanling (I could have that spelling wrong), the starting point for what turned out to be a TEN KILOMETRE HIKE ALONG SOME OF THE STEEPEST FREAKING HILLS IN EXISTENCE. The Great Wall goes up and down like a roller coaster - and there were TWENTY towers between our starting point and Simitai, our end point.
So yeah, it was pretty tough going. I'm just glad we'd gotten the cable car up to the damn wall in the first place!
I think I'm woman enough to admit that I was in TEARS at one point - my body hurt all over, my head was blocked up with a cold, it was hot...I was very distressed. What made it worse was the number of Chinese and Mongolian locals who make their living walking alongside visitors on the wall, selling books and postcards and bottles of water, Coke and beer. I suppose when you're doing that much walking it would be good to knock your brain about silly with booze! But the locals kept staying close to us, it made me feel closed in, despite the massive mountainous countryside around us and blue skies above us.
But Greg, to his credit, gently pushed me to go on, saying it was an achievement to do, and not something you get the opportunity to do every day. Although I think by the end even he was f***ing sick of the Wall and never wanted to see it again! I am glad I did it in hindsight, but truth be told, if I could have stopped half-way, or even before, I would have. The problem is on that section of the Wall, is that there are NO escape routes. You HAVE to go the whole way. So if you've got health problems, DON'T do the hike. Go to Badaling and enjoy the view.
As for the Wall itself? Well, it is stunning. Miles and miles and miles long, stretching in every direction, like a beautiful ribbon across the mountain tops. We took the easy route down - a flying fox over the top of a resevoir at the Simitai end, and what a great feeling of freedom and flight that was (just to get off my feet!) I'm sure once the pain in my limbs subsides, I will be able to look at the photos and video we took and feel I achieved something.
But for now I f***ing hate that wall and never want to see it again! ;)
------------
Today we let ourselves relax - and hit the markets. Wheee! We spent a BIT more than we'd planned, but we bargained everyone down. My bargaining skills are pretty good (although of course - they still would have ripped us off no matter how low we got the price!)
Off to see Chinese acrobats this evening, then an early start on the train tomorrow! Will speak to you from Mongolia!
Cheers, Natalie.
Yesterday The Wah and I climbed a 10km stretch of the Great Wall of China.
Ouch.
A bit of background. After our last postings, Greg and I joined up with the rest of our Vodkatrain tour gang. It's a small lot, which is excellent. There's Phil and Andrew, both from Sydney (but travelling separately), and Karen from Reading, England. We all got on well, had a fantastic Peking Duck dinner (at a restaurant suggested by our Vodkatrain guide, or "honcho", Peter), and decided on doing the Great Wall on Thursday. Phil had already done a bit of the Wall at Simitai, about 4 hours north of Beijing. It's a lot less touristy than the popular Badaling site, which everyone seemed to avoid. I was happy enough to go with the others, who all though the Simitai area was the best option. Had I known what I was getting into though, I think I would have kicked and screamed...
Our day started at 5am when I woke up with a thumping sore throat, brought on I think by the contrast of our dry air-conditioning with the heat and humidity outside. We then promptly slept in, due to an alarm snafu (Greg's department!). We were supposd to be in the lobby by 6:40am, by some stroke of luck we awoke at 6:30am, then scrambled ourselves onto the chartered mini-bus (transport we'd paid 120RMB each for - about $25).
The bus made several stops to pick up other people - mostly Canadians, Poms, and a few Frenchies. It took us until midday to reach Jinshanling (I could have that spelling wrong), the starting point for what turned out to be a TEN KILOMETRE HIKE ALONG SOME OF THE STEEPEST FREAKING HILLS IN EXISTENCE. The Great Wall goes up and down like a roller coaster - and there were TWENTY towers between our starting point and Simitai, our end point.
So yeah, it was pretty tough going. I'm just glad we'd gotten the cable car up to the damn wall in the first place!
I think I'm woman enough to admit that I was in TEARS at one point - my body hurt all over, my head was blocked up with a cold, it was hot...I was very distressed. What made it worse was the number of Chinese and Mongolian locals who make their living walking alongside visitors on the wall, selling books and postcards and bottles of water, Coke and beer. I suppose when you're doing that much walking it would be good to knock your brain about silly with booze! But the locals kept staying close to us, it made me feel closed in, despite the massive mountainous countryside around us and blue skies above us.
But Greg, to his credit, gently pushed me to go on, saying it was an achievement to do, and not something you get the opportunity to do every day. Although I think by the end even he was f***ing sick of the Wall and never wanted to see it again! I am glad I did it in hindsight, but truth be told, if I could have stopped half-way, or even before, I would have. The problem is on that section of the Wall, is that there are NO escape routes. You HAVE to go the whole way. So if you've got health problems, DON'T do the hike. Go to Badaling and enjoy the view.
As for the Wall itself? Well, it is stunning. Miles and miles and miles long, stretching in every direction, like a beautiful ribbon across the mountain tops. We took the easy route down - a flying fox over the top of a resevoir at the Simitai end, and what a great feeling of freedom and flight that was (just to get off my feet!) I'm sure once the pain in my limbs subsides, I will be able to look at the photos and video we took and feel I achieved something.
But for now I f***ing hate that wall and never want to see it again! ;)
------------
Today we let ourselves relax - and hit the markets. Wheee! We spent a BIT more than we'd planned, but we bargained everyone down. My bargaining skills are pretty good (although of course - they still would have ripped us off no matter how low we got the price!)
Off to see Chinese acrobats this evening, then an early start on the train tomorrow! Will speak to you from Mongolia!
Cheers, Natalie.
Aug 16, 2006
Random Notes from a Big City
Hey all! I've got about 15 minutes left of net time, so here goes:
- Logging on to Blogger in Chinese is very amusing. I'm glad I know the system so well; otherwise I wouldn't know what the hell buttons I'm clicking.
- Beijing is still FREAKING HUGE. On the plus side, it's flatter than Keira Knightley's chest, so walking is not TOO much of a problem....EXCEPT...
- ...when you're walking with The Wah, who's like some sort of long-distance pedo-machine. (Does that sound bad?!?!?) I actually put the pedometer on today for the first time, and ta-da! We've walked 20,270 steps. And it's only 4:20pm.
- Tuesday saw us kicked out of the queue to see Chairman Mao (we were carrying cameras that have to be checked into a cloakroom on the other side of the road from T.Square), so we decided to head into the Forbidden City instead. Not really very "Forbidden", as they would have been 20,000 people there at least. It's now actually known as the "Palace Museum". It's massive (but then, everything is). Beautiful temples with some fantastic names - "Pavillion of Deposited Jade", "Actualizing Hope Tower", "Gate of Lunar Brilliance", "Gate of Solar Extract", " Hall of All-Encompassing Universe"...I could go on forever.
- Yesterday (Tuesday) was HOT. How hot? Damn hot. I got severely burned - again. I no longer look like a Ghost Woman, I look like Porky Pig. Yibida yibida. I ended up buying a huge wacky purple sun visor - too late for yesterday, but nice for today. I think it helped.
- Today (Wednesday) saw us up early to have another crack at Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall. We got into T.Square at 8:15am, checked our bag, got into the queue, and began the slow funeral-procession-like shuffle to his mausoleum. Some people pushed ahead of us, but for the most part it was an orderly line. Some people bought yellow chrysanthemums to lay at the huge marble statue of the sitting Mao, which greets you in the entrance hall. (Me lay flowers at the foot of an, ahem, "Great Leader"? I think not. But many did). Then you're shuffled through to the bit where Mao lies, under a slab of glass, covered up to the neck in the Chinese flag. To tell the truth? Old Mao's on the slide, if you know what I mean. Looking a bit too waxy. The whole thing is a bit gruesome really, and only lasts about 1 minute. Plus the hour it took to queue. ;)
- A funny example of East not quite meeting West: in Australia, you can buy little ankle-only pantyhose, to wear under trousers. For businesswomen, it makes it easy to wear shoes without the heat of the hose under your pants. Here, they have them, but obviously nobody's explained they really only go under trousers. So there's all these beautifully dressed women with little ankle pantyhose under their Italian shoes. It just strikes me as freaking hilarious.
- Also visited Beihei Park & Jiangin Park, both north of the Forbidden City. Both massive (but then, everything is!). Beihei Park is the home of the stunning "White Pagoda", and is home to a lot of cool Buddha statues and the famous "Nine Dragon Screen" as well. Photos to come later. ;)
- Speaking of photos, we've already nearly used up our 1GB card. Culling to come!
- Everything here is cheap - it's freaking fantastic! I love it, I love it. We're well under budget, which will be handy heading into Russia and Europe.
- We're off now to meet our tour group - tomorrow we're going to try to get to the Great Wall (of China, just in case you weren't sure which Great Wall). ;)
See ya later, Nat.
Aug 14, 2006
Rainbows over Tiannamen Square
Hi everyone,
This blog entry is coming at you from an internet cafe in downtown Beijing, just near Tiannamen Square, to be exact. All the characters (except the 0nes I'm typing) are in Chinese characters, so if there are some stuff ups, you'll know why!
Yes, Beijing. I hope you all enjoyed our "audio blog" post from the Temple of Heaven! What a day - for about $7 each we spent the day rambling around this massive park, with buildings and temples dating back to ancient times. The most famous is the "Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests" - it's an old, three-tiered structure m0deled on the lunar calendar. Stunning!
Anyways, I should back-track a little.
We had a fabulous time in Hong Kong - thanks so much to my Uncle Jan, Aunt Eliza and cousin Natasha (a newly ordained member of the worldwide Clumsy Girl Association). Saturday saw us blow our budget at the Stanley markets - Greg splashed out on an exotic crushed velvet jacket (because he just would, wouldn't he?) and I spent a fair whack on four Tintin prints to hang on the walls of my new flat when I get home. Did anybody realise by now I'm a Tintin nut? ;)
Saturday night we had a fabulous buffet dinner at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (they still have the "Royal" in English - although since handover the Chinese leave it out!) - with spectacular views over the harbour, and of both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. We followed that up with a trip up to "The Peak", the premiere destination for a great panaroma of the city. Wow. We scored a clear night too - even my uncle said he hadn't seen it that good for months.
Sunday Greg and I foolishly attempted to climb a giant mountain behind Jan's apartment block (I say block, but really "Parkview" is a mass compound, comprising apartments, serviced apartments and a hotel. They moved here because it's closer to the "Country Park", although to some of the H.K. elite, it's "too far away". They've obviously never had to drive from Brisbane to the Gold Coast for work!). I say "attempted", but really it was only I who "attempted" - Greg managed to get all the way to the top, and I felt so unfit and awful that I piked at about the three-quarter mark. Then....and I can't believe this....I left the dog lead at the top where I'd sat to get take a breather. (We were walking the family's gorgeous dog Dusky). So gallant Greg headed back up, and almost died, the poor thing! I felt so horrible, but not horrible enough to volunteer to go back up myself! ;) I did, however get horribly sunburned on my back. Yes, I was wearing sunscreen. Damn you, Cancer Council of Australia! Your 30+ did nothing! Nothing!
After a nice lunch yesterday and an efficient check-in at the Hong Kong train station (you can check-in for your flight at the airport, then you don't have to worry about carting your bags! What a great system), it all went wrong. Well, dodgy, anyway. Our flight was delayed by an hour, then we spent another TWO hours sitting in the plane on the tarmac, after China decided to close its airspace because there was too much traffic! I mean, WHAT?!?! Can you imagine at the Olympics, the Aussie team being delayed because there was a sudden no fly zone?!?! Crazy talk! Anyhoo, we finally took off at 9pm, landed at midnight, spent 45 minutes queuing for immigration (during which we discovered that the Chinese don't actually queue, that's really just a British thing), then spend another 1.5 hours getting a taxi into the city. We experienced our first Beijing traffic jam - at 1:30AM!!!!!
However we got to our hotel, which thankfully had a 24hour conceirge, and check-in. A hotel bed has never felt so sweet, even if it does have a Communist-style hard mattress. ;) Today we indulged ourselves and had a sleep-in, and walked out of our hotel confidentally around midday. We then realised something important.
"Oh, yeah. We don't actually SPEAK or READ Chinese, and we have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHERE WE ARE."
So back into the hotel to pick up a 10RMB tourist map (about $2). That was a bit of help, but street signs in Beijing appear to be optional, so we just took a punt on the location of the Temple of Heaven based on the fact there were some foreign tourists walking past us, having obviously just been SOMEWHERE. We eventually found a beautiful-looking temple type building, only to discover it was a shopping centre. Ah yes, an East meets West commercial reality. A friendly rickshaw driver saw us looking confusedly at our map, and helpfully pointed out the Temple of Heaven was about 100 metres in the opposite direction. He must have been a bit disappointed not to pick up a fare!
For 35RMB each (about $14 total) we got a through-pass to the Temple, and had a good wander for about 4 hours. Strange thing - a LOT of people stared at me. Heaps. Two even asked to have their photos taken with me. I was a bit nervous, and a bit upset, as I thought it was because at 5"9 and a Size 14 (sadly), I am The Giant Woman. Seriously, I'm taller and bigger than most everyone here, and really it's a bit depressing. But Greg reckons it's because of my pale skin. And I am whiter than Moby Dick. Well, except for the sunburned back. So I like that theory better.
On leaving we consulted the map and thought, "Yeah, it doesn't look too far. Let's walk to Tiannamen Square."
WRONG!
For the record, Beijing is HUGE. Not that Hong Kong isn't, it's just Hong Kong is built on a small island and everything is up. It's super-streamlined. Beijing is flat, and wide and spreading faster than my waistline (and I'll get to that in a minute). There are no real skyscrapers that we can see, the buildings are more squat. The roads are so wide - there are intersections the size of King George Square. I guess that's what happens when you have a bogload of land and a bogload of people.
Anyhoo, it took us a good 45 minutes at a steady walking pace to get through to the big one: Tiannamen Square. On the way, I noticed a lot of brick walls going up along the sidewalks - effectively cutting the pavement in two and blocking off the frontages of local shops. I mused that they're being put up in time for the Olympics - so that all the shabby and smelly old stores (of which there are many) are hidden from close international scrutiny.
We got to Tiannamen Square and yes, we did it.
We went to McDonald's.
I know, I know!!!! Six days in and already we're onto the Macca's. But really, how much more ironic does it getting eating from the palm of the world's most famous capitalist icon in the centre of the world's largest communist country? (Plus is was cheap, clean and the toilet had a seat - a BIG plus).
We wandered off around to look at Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall - the big guy is on display in there, so we'll probably go check it out tomorro. We were accosted at that point by a young man who we soon came to discover was a student studying English and traditional Chinese art. We knew something would come of this, but he was such a charmer we kept chatting to him, instead of shushing him away like most of the spruikers and peddlers here. Mind you, he could speak English very well, so that's probably what sold us. He explained to us a bit about the Square and the Monument to the People's Heroes etc - and then it came.
Michael - as his adopted English named turned out to be - was an art student, and his class had an exhibition on at the Museum of China, conveniently located on one side of the Square (on the other side is parliament; the two buildings balance each other for feng shui purposes). Would we like to come and see their exhibit? Sure, why not, we replied. He'd been nice, and he really didn't look the type to gut us and steal our cash (not that we have that much). We ended up buying a sample of his calligraphy on a nice bamboo and silk scroll. He wrote "Good Luck" on it, as well as our names in Chinese characters. It cost us around 160RMB (about $30).
We knew we were getting a bit fleeced, but we gave ourselves over to the experience. We learned a little bit, and we got to see some nice artwork in the exhibition. They were trying to sell us more, but we refused. And at least it's a souvenir I can whack up in the new flat. Although I'll have to get someone to check that he actually wrote our names, and not "Stupidly Trusting Foreign Idiots".
Anyway, I gotta run - I've been bollocking on for ages and we're out of net time.
Will talk again soon - no idea what we're up to next although I suspect dinner is on the short-term agenda. Vodkatrain starts Wednesday night!
Hope everyone is well, and my love to all. Natalie.
P.S. Oh, yeah. There were two rainbows over Tiannamen Square. TWO! A pair of them, one inside the other. Amazing. Isn't that just the best advertisement the Chinese government could have for such a place?!?!
This blog entry is coming at you from an internet cafe in downtown Beijing, just near Tiannamen Square, to be exact. All the characters (except the 0nes I'm typing) are in Chinese characters, so if there are some stuff ups, you'll know why!
Yes, Beijing. I hope you all enjoyed our "audio blog" post from the Temple of Heaven! What a day - for about $7 each we spent the day rambling around this massive park, with buildings and temples dating back to ancient times. The most famous is the "Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests" - it's an old, three-tiered structure m0deled on the lunar calendar. Stunning!
Anyways, I should back-track a little.
We had a fabulous time in Hong Kong - thanks so much to my Uncle Jan, Aunt Eliza and cousin Natasha (a newly ordained member of the worldwide Clumsy Girl Association). Saturday saw us blow our budget at the Stanley markets - Greg splashed out on an exotic crushed velvet jacket (because he just would, wouldn't he?) and I spent a fair whack on four Tintin prints to hang on the walls of my new flat when I get home. Did anybody realise by now I'm a Tintin nut? ;)
Saturday night we had a fabulous buffet dinner at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (they still have the "Royal" in English - although since handover the Chinese leave it out!) - with spectacular views over the harbour, and of both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. We followed that up with a trip up to "The Peak", the premiere destination for a great panaroma of the city. Wow. We scored a clear night too - even my uncle said he hadn't seen it that good for months.
Sunday Greg and I foolishly attempted to climb a giant mountain behind Jan's apartment block (I say block, but really "Parkview" is a mass compound, comprising apartments, serviced apartments and a hotel. They moved here because it's closer to the "Country Park", although to some of the H.K. elite, it's "too far away". They've obviously never had to drive from Brisbane to the Gold Coast for work!). I say "attempted", but really it was only I who "attempted" - Greg managed to get all the way to the top, and I felt so unfit and awful that I piked at about the three-quarter mark. Then....and I can't believe this....I left the dog lead at the top where I'd sat to get take a breather. (We were walking the family's gorgeous dog Dusky). So gallant Greg headed back up, and almost died, the poor thing! I felt so horrible, but not horrible enough to volunteer to go back up myself! ;) I did, however get horribly sunburned on my back. Yes, I was wearing sunscreen. Damn you, Cancer Council of Australia! Your 30+ did nothing! Nothing!
After a nice lunch yesterday and an efficient check-in at the Hong Kong train station (you can check-in for your flight at the airport, then you don't have to worry about carting your bags! What a great system), it all went wrong. Well, dodgy, anyway. Our flight was delayed by an hour, then we spent another TWO hours sitting in the plane on the tarmac, after China decided to close its airspace because there was too much traffic! I mean, WHAT?!?! Can you imagine at the Olympics, the Aussie team being delayed because there was a sudden no fly zone?!?! Crazy talk! Anyhoo, we finally took off at 9pm, landed at midnight, spent 45 minutes queuing for immigration (during which we discovered that the Chinese don't actually queue, that's really just a British thing), then spend another 1.5 hours getting a taxi into the city. We experienced our first Beijing traffic jam - at 1:30AM!!!!!
However we got to our hotel, which thankfully had a 24hour conceirge, and check-in. A hotel bed has never felt so sweet, even if it does have a Communist-style hard mattress. ;) Today we indulged ourselves and had a sleep-in, and walked out of our hotel confidentally around midday. We then realised something important.
"Oh, yeah. We don't actually SPEAK or READ Chinese, and we have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHERE WE ARE."
So back into the hotel to pick up a 10RMB tourist map (about $2). That was a bit of help, but street signs in Beijing appear to be optional, so we just took a punt on the location of the Temple of Heaven based on the fact there were some foreign tourists walking past us, having obviously just been SOMEWHERE. We eventually found a beautiful-looking temple type building, only to discover it was a shopping centre. Ah yes, an East meets West commercial reality. A friendly rickshaw driver saw us looking confusedly at our map, and helpfully pointed out the Temple of Heaven was about 100 metres in the opposite direction. He must have been a bit disappointed not to pick up a fare!
For 35RMB each (about $14 total) we got a through-pass to the Temple, and had a good wander for about 4 hours. Strange thing - a LOT of people stared at me. Heaps. Two even asked to have their photos taken with me. I was a bit nervous, and a bit upset, as I thought it was because at 5"9 and a Size 14 (sadly), I am The Giant Woman. Seriously, I'm taller and bigger than most everyone here, and really it's a bit depressing. But Greg reckons it's because of my pale skin. And I am whiter than Moby Dick. Well, except for the sunburned back. So I like that theory better.
On leaving we consulted the map and thought, "Yeah, it doesn't look too far. Let's walk to Tiannamen Square."
WRONG!
For the record, Beijing is HUGE. Not that Hong Kong isn't, it's just Hong Kong is built on a small island and everything is up. It's super-streamlined. Beijing is flat, and wide and spreading faster than my waistline (and I'll get to that in a minute). There are no real skyscrapers that we can see, the buildings are more squat. The roads are so wide - there are intersections the size of King George Square. I guess that's what happens when you have a bogload of land and a bogload of people.
Anyhoo, it took us a good 45 minutes at a steady walking pace to get through to the big one: Tiannamen Square. On the way, I noticed a lot of brick walls going up along the sidewalks - effectively cutting the pavement in two and blocking off the frontages of local shops. I mused that they're being put up in time for the Olympics - so that all the shabby and smelly old stores (of which there are many) are hidden from close international scrutiny.
We got to Tiannamen Square and yes, we did it.
We went to McDonald's.
I know, I know!!!! Six days in and already we're onto the Macca's. But really, how much more ironic does it getting eating from the palm of the world's most famous capitalist icon in the centre of the world's largest communist country? (Plus is was cheap, clean and the toilet had a seat - a BIG plus).
We wandered off around to look at Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall - the big guy is on display in there, so we'll probably go check it out tomorro. We were accosted at that point by a young man who we soon came to discover was a student studying English and traditional Chinese art. We knew something would come of this, but he was such a charmer we kept chatting to him, instead of shushing him away like most of the spruikers and peddlers here. Mind you, he could speak English very well, so that's probably what sold us. He explained to us a bit about the Square and the Monument to the People's Heroes etc - and then it came.
Michael - as his adopted English named turned out to be - was an art student, and his class had an exhibition on at the Museum of China, conveniently located on one side of the Square (on the other side is parliament; the two buildings balance each other for feng shui purposes). Would we like to come and see their exhibit? Sure, why not, we replied. He'd been nice, and he really didn't look the type to gut us and steal our cash (not that we have that much). We ended up buying a sample of his calligraphy on a nice bamboo and silk scroll. He wrote "Good Luck" on it, as well as our names in Chinese characters. It cost us around 160RMB (about $30).
We knew we were getting a bit fleeced, but we gave ourselves over to the experience. We learned a little bit, and we got to see some nice artwork in the exhibition. They were trying to sell us more, but we refused. And at least it's a souvenir I can whack up in the new flat. Although I'll have to get someone to check that he actually wrote our names, and not "Stupidly Trusting Foreign Idiots".
Anyway, I gotta run - I've been bollocking on for ages and we're out of net time.
Will talk again soon - no idea what we're up to next although I suspect dinner is on the short-term agenda. Vodkatrain starts Wednesday night!
Hope everyone is well, and my love to all. Natalie.
P.S. Oh, yeah. There were two rainbows over Tiannamen Square. TWO! A pair of them, one inside the other. Amazing. Isn't that just the best advertisement the Chinese government could have for such a place?!?!
Aug 12, 2006
Smog & Sun in Hong Kong
Hey all,
We've been in Hong Kong for the past three days - and it's been virtually impossible to find five minutes to be alone with the internet. We're staying with my uncle Jan and aunt Eliza, and they use their internet regularly - I think even now they're waiting to get on this computer so I will have to be brief!
Another reason we haven't been near the computer much is that Jan has kept us up and running virtually since touchdown. ;) Hong Kong is a bustling metropolis, but Jan has been equally keen to show us the 'country' side of the city. Over 40% of Hong Kong Island is still 'country park' - set up by the British ruling officials back in the day because they liked to go for long walks in the wild. Jan likes this side of Hong Kong better - yesterday he even took us up through Kowloon and the New Territories on the mainland to the border area with China. We stood on a seldom-used helipad and looked out over Shau Tok Kok, a skyscraper-ful city at least twice the size of Brisbane, and only 25 years old. The whole of southern China is a massive industrial machine, churning out cities as fast as it churns out cheap goods for overseas sale.
Speaking of which, on Thursday night we went to the Temple Street and Ladies' Markets on Kowloon - and my goodness, was there some cheap goods there. Imagine an Australian market, with similar 'junk' (as my Dad and Jan both call it) at similar prices - except here the prices are Hong Kong dollars! Cut to me walking around marvelling at the rip-off Swatch watches for about $4 Australian, or the handbags for $6. I finally found the cheap-arse shopper's paradise! We didn't buy much - well, I didn't buy much because I had very sensibly given our money to Greg to guard carefully. Every time I looked longingly at something, Greg would remind me that I would have to lug it around the world for the next five months. Sobering advice, indeed. But I've been told that in Beijing, all the same stuff is available even CHEAPER, so God help me once we hit the Chinese capital.
Hong Kong truly is a sensory overload - Thursday here was so smoggy, you could barely see 20 metres in front of you, particularly when we took the ferry across to the small island of Cheung Chau. Air conditioners are a common sight - and after these past couple of muggy days, I can see why. The pollution is so thick sometimes you can feel it soaking into your skin. Neon lights are bright and overwhelming at night in the party districts of central Hong Kong, like Lan Kwai Fong. Walking through an electronics centre to buy an SD memory card was like walking through a nerdy Wonderland - all flashing sounds and buzzing lights. The smells are overpowering in some areas - like live fish, crabs, eels & squid all in polystyrene boxes filled with salt water at markets, waiting for you to pick them out and take them home for a dinner fresh from the sea.
I'm truly writing a lot of bollocks here, but I am trying to get it all down before people start looking at me with that "We need to leave now" expression! I hope everyone is well - thank you to those who have commented - I'm afraid I can't email, this blog is about as good as it will get as far as mass communication!
Natalie.
P.S. Line of the trip so far from my cousin Natasha (who's far too cool for me anyway) after news of the UK bomb plot surfaced: "Don't worry, terrorists won't bomb Hong Kong. They keep all their money here". Funny, but also apparently true. ;)
We've been in Hong Kong for the past three days - and it's been virtually impossible to find five minutes to be alone with the internet. We're staying with my uncle Jan and aunt Eliza, and they use their internet regularly - I think even now they're waiting to get on this computer so I will have to be brief!
Another reason we haven't been near the computer much is that Jan has kept us up and running virtually since touchdown. ;) Hong Kong is a bustling metropolis, but Jan has been equally keen to show us the 'country' side of the city. Over 40% of Hong Kong Island is still 'country park' - set up by the British ruling officials back in the day because they liked to go for long walks in the wild. Jan likes this side of Hong Kong better - yesterday he even took us up through Kowloon and the New Territories on the mainland to the border area with China. We stood on a seldom-used helipad and looked out over Shau Tok Kok, a skyscraper-ful city at least twice the size of Brisbane, and only 25 years old. The whole of southern China is a massive industrial machine, churning out cities as fast as it churns out cheap goods for overseas sale.
Speaking of which, on Thursday night we went to the Temple Street and Ladies' Markets on Kowloon - and my goodness, was there some cheap goods there. Imagine an Australian market, with similar 'junk' (as my Dad and Jan both call it) at similar prices - except here the prices are Hong Kong dollars! Cut to me walking around marvelling at the rip-off Swatch watches for about $4 Australian, or the handbags for $6. I finally found the cheap-arse shopper's paradise! We didn't buy much - well, I didn't buy much because I had very sensibly given our money to Greg to guard carefully. Every time I looked longingly at something, Greg would remind me that I would have to lug it around the world for the next five months. Sobering advice, indeed. But I've been told that in Beijing, all the same stuff is available even CHEAPER, so God help me once we hit the Chinese capital.
Hong Kong truly is a sensory overload - Thursday here was so smoggy, you could barely see 20 metres in front of you, particularly when we took the ferry across to the small island of Cheung Chau. Air conditioners are a common sight - and after these past couple of muggy days, I can see why. The pollution is so thick sometimes you can feel it soaking into your skin. Neon lights are bright and overwhelming at night in the party districts of central Hong Kong, like Lan Kwai Fong. Walking through an electronics centre to buy an SD memory card was like walking through a nerdy Wonderland - all flashing sounds and buzzing lights. The smells are overpowering in some areas - like live fish, crabs, eels & squid all in polystyrene boxes filled with salt water at markets, waiting for you to pick them out and take them home for a dinner fresh from the sea.
I'm truly writing a lot of bollocks here, but I am trying to get it all down before people start looking at me with that "We need to leave now" expression! I hope everyone is well - thank you to those who have commented - I'm afraid I can't email, this blog is about as good as it will get as far as mass communication!
Natalie.
P.S. Line of the trip so far from my cousin Natasha (who's far too cool for me anyway) after news of the UK bomb plot surfaced: "Don't worry, terrorists won't bomb Hong Kong. They keep all their money here". Funny, but also apparently true. ;)
Aug 8, 2006
'Twas the night before travel
There's just one sleep left. Well, actually make that a half-sleep, as I'll probably still be packing into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
I've had a tense few days - I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. The most annoying thing was finding out my new 4GB memory card won't work in my camera, as it can only accept cards up to 2GB. Grrr!! And I have so many cords and wires and chargers and adapters to pack. It'll be lucky if I have any room for clothes at all.
I had a small but nice farewell work drinks on Saturday; and had a good lot of friends rock up on Sunday night with food for a good-bye nosh. Thanks to all. I guess the only thing left is to steel myself from the inevitable parting from Mum & Dad. Annoying as they can be, I still turn into a blubbering baby leaving them at airports. ;)
I hope everyone finds reading this diary interesting and amusing. Feel free to comment - anyone can, you don't need to have a blog yourself.
So it's bon voyage to me, and I will speak to you next from the economic capital of Asia...Hong Kong!
And away! Nat.
I've had a tense few days - I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. The most annoying thing was finding out my new 4GB memory card won't work in my camera, as it can only accept cards up to 2GB. Grrr!! And I have so many cords and wires and chargers and adapters to pack. It'll be lucky if I have any room for clothes at all.
I had a small but nice farewell work drinks on Saturday; and had a good lot of friends rock up on Sunday night with food for a good-bye nosh. Thanks to all. I guess the only thing left is to steel myself from the inevitable parting from Mum & Dad. Annoying as they can be, I still turn into a blubbering baby leaving them at airports. ;)
I hope everyone finds reading this diary interesting and amusing. Feel free to comment - anyone can, you don't need to have a blog yourself.
So it's bon voyage to me, and I will speak to you next from the economic capital of Asia...Hong Kong!
And away! Nat.
Aug 6, 2006
Signing off...
...well, I just finished my last bulletin on 4BC.
...
...
...for now, anyway. Bwa-hah-hah-hah!
The lovely people here gave me a juicer as a farewell present. A juicer! How cool is that?!?! I would never have bought one myself, but boy will I use it. Fresh juice!!
Holiday only two days away now...having nibblies with friends at my place tonight...still many things to get done... but excitement is starting to replace stress. The mind-boggling moments of fear come and go. ;)
...
...
...for now, anyway. Bwa-hah-hah-hah!
The lovely people here gave me a juicer as a farewell present. A juicer! How cool is that?!?! I would never have bought one myself, but boy will I use it. Fresh juice!!
Holiday only two days away now...having nibblies with friends at my place tonight...still many things to get done... but excitement is starting to replace stress. The mind-boggling moments of fear come and go. ;)
Aug 3, 2006
Ups & downs, bits & pieces
- Only 6 days to go. Eek! Still so much stuff to do, so many people to see. I'm also very, very tired - working late night, not sleeping as much as I should. Consquently it's Nat on the Edge at the moment - the tears could flow at any time!
- Travel documents are ready to be picked up; along with visas and passports. We're good to go on that front. But there's a couple of flights still to be booked online.
- Budgeting is going well - with the teensy weensy exception of a $2800 tax bill that I have to pay by the end of October. Grrr. At least after next year I should stop getting these big bills - thanks to home ownership. Maybe one day I'll even get a tax refund!
- eBay officially rocks. I sold my camera for $222, my massage mat for $91, the Bond games for $41 and $11 apiece, and one of the handbags for $8.50. The other bag didn't sell, but all in all, I think it was a great first experience with the auction site. I posted everything off today, so at least that's one thing ticked off the must-do list.
- Something else that rocks is audioblogging - hence the last post. You can expect more of that from overseas. It's so simple and clever.
- Greg has begun packing up his flat - I helped a bit on Tuesday but am working now so he's on his own. He's also started something he always swore he'd never do. That's right, he's come over to the Dark Side.
The absolute best news of the week is that it appears (touch wood) I am to be 4BC's "foreign correspondent" of sorts - providing voice reports three times a week to programs! I'm so excited by this prospect - but also scared that I won't be contactable, or my phone will cut out, or I'll be dead boring, that people won't want to listen to me....the usual paranoia that runs through my head!
Cheers to you all, Natalie.
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