Other Stuff

So, I can't see my own blog. I can publish posts, but I can't see the blog itself because I believe it's being censored from me much like BBC news which I'm unable to access on the web. So, that's not fun but there's nothing I can do about it. But I wanted to mention some other things that I've seen lately. We went to the Silk Market which was an incredible place. It was basically a multi-storey department store full of genuine-looking goods. The best knock-offs included. Nokia phones, ipods, D&G zip hoodies, Ray Ban shades, Polo button-downs, Breitling watches, Arc'Teryx jackets, etc. I've never seen anything remotely similar to it.

That same day we also saw the Lama Temple which was a sequence of buildings similar in layout to the Forbidden City but smaller. Every building was filled with incredibly ornate Buddhist sculptures, statues, and ornaments including an 18m tall Buddha! Everyone there was praying and burning incense. It was beautiful.

So yesterday, we checked out the Summer Palace which was stunning. Acres and acres of beautifully landscaped park dotted with gorgeous buildings and walkways. The lake in the center was massive and had an island in the middle with a bridge out to it. There was also a large hill dominated by the "Fragrance of the Buddha Temple." It was stunning.

I'm not going to put up a picture of that because they're not my pics, but hopefully soon, I'll have up some more. Also, Matt and I picked up a cellphone at the Silk Market and we managed to get it working yesterday. So now if you have an international phonecard, you can call us. As we travel to other countries, we'll keep getting sim cards and we should be able to take this phone with us around the world.