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Rome, Italy Trip
Paris, France Trip
Davao City,
Philippines Trip
Peter Roszak, my co-worker in Air Canada, had
been wanting to visit Asia. When he heard that I was going to pass
through Beijing en route to the Philippines, he decided to join. He
went first to Hongkong then we met in Beijing on October 11.
Lou (last picture in this page) was our tour
guide during the whole duration of our trip. He picked us up at the
airport, dropped us at the airport, picked us up again on our trip to the
Great Wall, Olympic Stadium, Forbidden City and on the last day, from the
hotel to the airport. Lou charged us RMB 1,000 for the whole duration
all inclusive of transportation expenses. Lou spoke very good English hence
we did not have any problems communication. Just send contact me for Lou's
email/phone information.
From the airport, Lou dropped us at
Novotel Hotel which was just 3 blocks away from the Forbidden City and
Tiananmen Square. As soon as Peter and I got settled, we just walked
around and went to the
Temple of Heaven.
It was a bit late when we started our tour so darkness fell on us when we
got to the site.
The following day, Lou picked us up at the
hotel en route to the Great Wall. I noticed that Beijing was literally
covered in smog that the CCTV
building was not clear when I took a picture of it.
The Great Wall of
China was about 1.5 hours drive away from the hotel. There was a
lot of walking in the area since we were only able to use one side of the
cable car.
From the Great Wall, we were only able to
pass by the
Birds Nest Olympic Stadium since it was closed to the public at that
time.
Lou then dropped us off at
Tiananmen Square
and from there, Peter and I just strolled through the
Forbidden City.
Indeed, it was a city on its own. A vast palace for the past emperors
of China.
After our tour of the Forbidden City, we
called it a day in preparation for our trip to the Philippines the following
day.
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