Day 4 - Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Today I seemed to be coming down with the flu. I didn't feel well, and I had a very sore throat, which I felt was caused by the pollution. Not that it stopped me from resuming my daily touristic activity.

I had my breakfast, then caught the metro to the Temple of Heaven, one of Beijing's many sites that I wanted to check out. I would love to check every site here, but there won't be enough time, and I'm departing for Mongolia tomorrow. At least Beijing is a place I would consider visiting again.

The Temple of Heaven, upon arrival, was fantastic. I again felt as if I were in ancient times. There were many green grass patches throughout the colourful site. The architecture was very detailed and beautiful, consisting of many colours, such as gold, green, purple and red. I took photos as I pleased.









Unfortunately, my throat wasn't making my day very good, and it was shortly afterwards that I started heading back to my hostel. I figured I'd pick up some lunch at the noodle restaurant I went to before, which should relieve the pain for a while.

I then had some time on the internet. I kept on swallowing painfully. I bought myself some tea from the hostel bar, one which was good for the throat, but it didn't help much; not to mention it was hard to drink, with all the tea leaves floating at the top of the glass. I guess that's how they served tea in China. So I asked for a straw.

I couldn't remedy my sore throat. The next thing that crossed my mind was cough lollies. Here in China, I had no idea what they would look like. I ended up buying some chewy sweets. Then I tried again at another shop; this time, I tried asking the shop attendant for help. She didn't understand english, but it seemed that she understood me when I pointed to my throat, indicating that it was sore.

Now these cough lollies were pretty oddly shaped, and they looked totally different to what I get at home. I bought them, and hoped they'd be what I wanted them to be. And they were. I managed to get what I wanted. My throat was relieved. I could probably go through half of the packet by the end of the day.

Anywho, I practised my Greek with my roommate again. We conversed during the evening. And, as chance would have it, one of my other roommates was also Greek, but this one a much older man, by the name of Kostas. We had a good chat about travelling and of life in general. It was nice to be in a comfortable environment.

And so, that would be my final night in Beijing. I've got to wake up pretty early tomorrow morning to catch my train; the start of my trans-Mongolian and Siberian rail journey. I couldn't wait. Every day was going to be a new adventure. I loved the idea of having something new in my life every day, not knowing what I'd uncover.