China Trip: Day Three

Day Three: Saturday
Saturday can best be summed up in one word: sketchy. We got up early in order to go to the Great Wall. The tour book told us it was simply a matter of taking bus # 919: what it didn’t tell us was that there were over twenty different bus #919’s. For close to an hour we were given the run-around, being pointed in different directions, being (strongly) urged into personal cars, and summoned into other tours that we had no desire to go on. After realizing that most of it was a scam, we thought we would try another tactic, only to realize that we were about ½ an hour to late to catch any other bus. So, with a major change of plans, we went to the Temple of Heaven, which is an icon of the city and the place where the emperors prayed for centuries.
We came across a church on our way back to the hotel: it was a wonderful place to sit for a few minutes of peace and stillness.
In the evening we found a great street full of vendors: one of those places that you argue back and forth for the best price: both of you knowing that you could have got a better price, but also mostly satisfied with the price you did get: us pretending to be angry and walk away, them pretending to be offended at the prices offered, both knowing full well that it’s all a game. We picked up a few great souvenirs, and ate some fantastic food at a vendor for next to nothing.
The night ended with a bang: we went to the street meat market: what we affectionately called “Dirty Meat.” Snakes, sparrows, frogs, scorpions, silk worms, cockroaches, fruit, squid, starfish…it was all there on a kabob, ready for those willing to eat it. We bought some beef, snake, frogs, sparrow and fruit – some of which were actually edible. We somehow got in a bit of a price fight with the vendor…a cop ended up getting involved, and we’re still not sure how it all came about.

A memorable quote from Rob J: I think I’ll just get the frogs to go, and then take them to bed with me!”
Sketchy.