Day 5: A picture of somewhere you’ve been.
My favourite travel photo is from Sri Lanka in the early 90’s – also my favourite destination, but unfortunately it’s old-school and I don’t have a scanner, so you miss out on that one. Just take my word for it that it’s mighty purdy, with the sun rising through palm trees and beautiful green grass. It also holds a special place because it’s on the south-east coast of Sri Lanka, right where the tsunami hit and I’m almost certain the little village would have been levelled.
In its place I offer you one of my recent trips, Beijing.
China is a place I’ve never been interested in visiting, but when a free trip is handed to you it’s very hard to turn it down.
I rate this trip as my biggest culture shock out of all of my travels so far. I’ve done a little bit of Asia so I’m used to dirt and pollution, but China is in a class of its own. The smog is unbelievable! I felt like a pack a day smoker by the end of it. Not exactly great for taking photos either.
It was also the first time I had travelled somewhere without knowing at least a little of the language. There is almost no way to connect with a place when you have no idea what’s going on. It also made the task of trying to find vegequarian food to eat super difficult – I mean fun, super fun. I still feel sorry for the poor bloke in the foodcourt having to put up with my mime and sound routine trying to order noodles - “no moo. mmmooo” *shake head* “no moo. fish good!” *nod head, swim hand through the air*. Ah me.
The Forbidden City was pretty cool I guess, but I really lit up when we went to the Great Wall of China – definitely my highlight. The air was cleaner, there were actual green things growing, the wall invoked awe. Who knew bricks could be so fascinating?
Perhaps I’ll go back to China one day – there is something about Shanghai that interests me, but there are so many other places I want to go first. Travel is my life. When I think of all the places I’ve yet to see it frustrates me. I can’t watch travel shows because I end up in tears at some point – true story.
The world is an amazing place and I really believe you only discover who you are when you fling yourself at its far corners.
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