UPDATE Our new friends Craig and Mary are also blogging their trip - it's much more professional than ours and has some great pictures too. Take a look here.After a very long day's travelling, we are finally in Beijing. The ferry arrived two hours late into a very murky port. Seoul was foggy/smoggy, but this was far worse. We had seen a handful of 'white people' on the boat, and when it came to disembark, the crew herded us all together. We were first off the boat, possibly because we and our big rucksacks were completely in the way, unable to understand the queueing and luggage instructions! There was a shuttle bus outside the terminal to take us to Beijing. We all filed on...and then waited there for another hour while the rest of the ferry emptied. This was a complete contrast to Japan. We were wedged into tight rows (the lads folded their legs around as best they could), and as more people were packed onto the bus, their luggage was piled up across the back window and then along the aisle. All in all a cosy setting for the two hour journey. So 3 hours later, we finally arrived in the north east part of Beijing. Traffic was heavy, but a taxi whisked us round to the south side of the city to our hostel: the Far East International Youth Hostel. And what a place!! It looks like a hotel, with simple clean corridors (white walls, wood detail) full of spacious dorm rooms containing large bunk beds that look brand new. Everything is clean, spacious and very pleasant. I'd be happy to spend the rest of the holiday here.
On the ferry we got chatting to two canadians, Mary and Craig. Last night, the four of us headed out to explore the local streets, which are a maze of little streets full of street vendors selling clothes, fruit, skewers of meat. You have to stay fairly alert though, as the rickshaws and bikes skim past you. There are a lot of tourists in this area, and from every restaurant or rickshaw that you pass, you are greeted by loud (and repeated) "Hullo". They are very cheerful and very persistent, but it's all good humored. It is clear that this is a very colourful and lively place, and we are looking forward to getting out there to explore...just as soon as we've sorted out our laundry crisis.