5th May – Beijing

Here we are again, back to base. We stayed here for the first 2 days in China and are now staying for the last 3 days. This is a really comfortable billet with a lounge/restaurant/meeting & wifi are on the 6th floor with views over the city, including Tian’an men Square. Again, wow, wow.

Our itinerary while here was the Summer Palace, Chinese Tea Ceremony and goodbye to Margaret and Pete Ceremony. Margaret is now bailing out and flying back to Atlanta, Georgia via Stockholm!!! The long way round! Pete is flying back to the UK after we join the ship.

Margaret and Pete’s farewell do was crazy and ended up with Margaret and several others getting very silly after smoking hookah. She tried to get me to try it when I said no insisted that it was only water! Well all I can say is I have never seen water make people so exuberant before. It was so funny.

One of the highlights of the evening was that the boys had arranged an “awards ceremony” which they had spent days organising. The “committee” was Cieron, Ben (who the locals keep photographing because they think he looks like Prince William!), Johnny, Pete and Andy. From what I can make out the awards were concocted over several very drunk evenings and given to Andy to make senses of. He’s good with words. Well he would be wouldn’t he, his dad’s a barrister! And I thought they were up to no good when they kept whispering together. I thought they were planning a trip to a brothel or something!
Everyone received an award. Jono and I were awarded the Torville and Dean Best Skating on Lake Baikal award! The ceremony finally ended with a competition for special awards, I was nominated for “The best social hand grenade” award for my throw away highly inappropriate remarks, but lost to Pete who won with his “Supporting the economies of every country we had travelled through” with his spendy ways. What a great way to end our last days in China. We will miss Gary. He is the best tour guide ever and reciprocated by saying that we are the best group he has ever guided. Mutual admiration is a great thing.