Roomies in my Beijing dorm

I woke up after a few hours, my tummy churning...famished.

The girl on the other end of my bunk just arrived. She looked over and smiled. Her name was Taru, she was from Finland. She was very friendly and we immediately chatted about our previous travels and plans in China. She arrived just a few hours after me, and of course she saw me all snuggled under the sheets... hopefully not snoring. Apparently, she's been on the Trans-Siberain train and also explored Mongolia. The photos were amazing and the stories were awesome. Thus, why as of this writing, I've been recently considering to include Mongolia in my future travel plans. 

After some chats we decided to book the tour for the Great Wall of China, Jinshanling side. Earlier on, before I headed for Beijing, a friend of mine advised me to avoid the most visited part Badaling. It's the easiest to walk BUT most crowded. That goes without explaining the presence of photo bombs. On the other hand, Jinshanling was listed as one of the most interesting and challenging. Simatai was also one of my options but based on research at that time, it was closed due to maintenance works. I was glad that the hostel was organizing trips to Jinshanling or else getting on the public transpo with no idea of any Chinese words would have been the greatest challenge I've ever experienced on my travels. 

I went out for a quick bite, scanned a few shops mentally tagging each food stall I'd like to try in the next few days. The aroma was intense as I walked the street, temptation all around. But it was a little bit late for a hearty dinner, so I settled for the barbeque of internal organs. YUM! :D An Asian delicacy indeed. 

When I got back to the hostel, there was already another girl on the top of my bunk. Her name was Maiko, from Australia, half Japanese and half German. She was very bubbly with a jolly laugh. She's been around a few places in China and have been staying with her friend back in Shanghai for a couple of days. Her travels involved going around Asia, and I was happy to know she had the Philippines in the list. 

So, after a few more chats, she agreed to join us for the Jinshanling walk. 

In the middle of the night, I heard someone come in but the lights were off. So I didn't bother to say hi anymore. Later we all got introduced to Aditiya from Indonesia, and that's a whole story in itself.