China!

About 2 years ago, Thomas asked me to be best man in his wedding. His traditional chinese wedding. In China. I cherished the honour, and happily got to see a bit of his birth country as well.

This certainly became a trip of contrasts. Starting up, I thought I would spend 14 hours on the concrete floor at the terminal at Doha, Qatar. No, it turned out passengers were entitled to a hotel stay.

The hotel room (beats concrete, yes?)

A nearby mosque

An impulsive Doha bay cruise with other travellers

Business district by night

Doha from the hotel roof

And the next day:

 "Sorry, sir, we had to change your ticket." 

Me: "Oh..."

Qatar Airways business class (shamefully stolen picture)

After a start like that, I feared the rest of the trip would be boring. Shame on me.

Beijing.

I ran around planning my trip a little bit more, and saw a few sights.

Bell tower

Temple of heaven

Gotta get those details...

Typical get-together in Temple of heaven park

Also met up with the bride and groom (the latter not present here)

I stayed in small hostels in what they call Hutongs, small narrow streets with single floor housing. Very cute, intimate and cozy. And sadly un-documented.

Xi'an

A stopover getting to know the old capital of China.

Biking on the city wall

Hua Shan 

The holy tao mountain to the west.

In the valley on the way up

The chinese are crazy

Looking one way...

Looking the other way...

A cave I slept in

Hua Shan in the morning. The drop is 1,5 km.

 "This is stupid. And the cellphone is slippery."

Wudang Shan

More of the same, really.

The summit. 60 ton copper temple on the top.

Some nice photographers I met and later partied with

Yichang - Cruise on Chang River

Street karaoke! I had to join!

Wet, gray and nice

Can't beat that feeling

It's just like a norwegian fjord!

The happy happy shared toilet on board

Back to Beijing, and then wedding in Bazhou

When the 4 day cruise was over, I was sortof in a rush to get back to Beijing. I bought the first and best train ticket, which turned out to be a 3rd class, 24 hour standing ticket. I dreaded the departure, but actually, after 20 hours, I looked down the carriage, and thought it would be sad for this fine train ride to be over so soon... (Stockholm syndrome, anyone?)

This guy helped me get a seat.

My tailor

 And then there was wedding! I'm currently waiting for pics from the semi-pro's that where blitzing all over the place. The chinese are really something else when it comes to hospitality and parties. Rest assured, a nice update will come!

Only picture I have of the wedding. Happy bride and groom walking up to their parents and representatives.

Going home:

"Excuse me, sir, the plane is overbooked. We are looking for volunteers for seats in business class." 

Me: "Oh..."

Yes, you've seen this one before.

You think it is lonely travelling by yourself?

And at last: Funny signs.

Sign by some stairs on the tourist boat

It should say: "Stay in line."

Tourist trap, anyone?