By day, its an imposing enough sight. By night, Beijing Main Station will be sure to dazzle, if not blind you altogether. In a country known for its over-the-top illumination of public buildings, its a sight not to be missed. For the five of us, as we prepare to depart the Capital, it truly is a lasting impression.
Continue reading “Despatches from the Silk Road :: Suspense in Shanghai”
Author: bratislav
Despatches from the Silk Road :: In search of Peking Duck
Beijing International Hotel, where we’re staying, is a short walk from Beijing Main Station. Having showered and bid farewell to HV – we’ll see him in a few days time – I browse the hotel literature for some late lunch options. There are a handful of restaurants to choose from, apparently, so I make my way to the most enticing of the lot, a rooftop revolving restaurant. Greeted warmly by a host at the elevator, I’m led by another to a table of my liking, and handed menus by a third. Only to be informed by a fourth – as I proceed to place my order – that they won’t be open till 5 pm. The puzzled look on my face couldn’t be more telling. Oh well, at least the views were worthwhile…
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Despatches from the Silk Road :: The Trans-Mongolian
Depending on which day of the week you board it from Ulaanbaatar, Train 24 could be Mongolian, Chinese or Russian. When SK and I saw it off two years ago, it was a Mongolian train. Today, we’re boarding a carriage that bears the bright red emblem of the People’s Republic of China, and fittingly, Beijing is our destination.
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Despatches from the Silk Road :: The Yurt life
A brief spell of rain has resulted in water logging across the city, and off-peak traffic snarls are worse than usual. Two years on, UB or Ulaanbaatar continues to grapple with infrastructural constraints. But a few things have changed, since SK and I were here last. The venerable Chinggis Khaan International is slated to get a swanky new home in a matter of months. The main highway leading out of the city is undergoing extensive repairs, and all along it, modern apartment blocks are rising, looking astonishingly un-Soviet as they do so. The city center now has a bike share – who would’ve thought? And our US-issued mobile devices finally have data coverage in the country. This time around though, we’re headed out. East of the Capital, to be precise, past Nalaïkh – a town who’s name SK and I derive immense pleasure from – into quintessential Mongolian countryside.
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36 hours in Panama
Overcast conditions, a cover of threatening clouds, and a thickness in the air that is unmistakably tropical. Stepping out from the climate-controlled interiors of Tocumen International couldn’t be more predictable. Racing along the Pan-American highway some 15-minutes later, from the comforts of my air conditioned Uber, the distant skyline appears almost as dramatic as the sky above it. The highway, at this point, nothing more than a causeway, with low tide conditions to the right, and the vastness of the Pacific to our left. Up ahead, Ciudad de Panamá or Panama City. 
The Great Havana Hangover
It was a longstanding dream of mine to visit, and getting there wasn’t without its share of hiccups. So after a few rounds of questioning, when the big cheese at immigration finally waved me through, it was a momentous occasion to be sure. I now had a José Martí stamp on my passport, and unfettered access to Cuba…
CDMX 3.0
It was 2013, on my second visit to Mexico, when I had a longish layover at Benito Juarez International, en route to the northwestern city of Chihuahua. Determined to get a taste of the country’s capital, I made the dash into el centro, returning suitably impressed, and vowing to return for longer, sooner rather than later. Years passed. A half dozen or so friends and acquaintances visited, and every one of them came back singing peans. FOMO ensued.
In the second half of 2018, I finally made it back there. The city had rebranded itself, appeared even more welcoming, and I realized quickly that my first foray there was not even worthy of a teaser. There was just too much to see, do and absorb – I had my work cut out for me. And so I’m back, less than 6-months later, to pick up where I left of; that love affair only getting stronger. Wish I could say the same about my Spanish.
Speaking of love…
