Day 1 and 2 - Beijing and Beyond . . . What the hell am I doing!

Oh, I intend too. Everywhere I go! I've heard people spit and poop on the street here!

Day 1 - 24th June.

So the journey has begun . . . I can't turn back now otherwise I'll be ridiculed by all who know me. I know there'll be times when I want to be at home, in the comfort zone, but this is all about learning, experiencing and enjoying what life has to offer.

Right, enough of that crap, let's get blogging.

So, after sleeping my last night in my own bed for a while, (by sleeping, I mean tossing and turning, thinking what the bloody hell am I doing!) I got up early to check that I had my airline ticket, my passport, 5 pairs of pants (I'll be washing them or turning them inside out), my t-shirts, shorts and good walking trainers. Anything else is inconsequential. (Except my baseball cap - with a hairline like this, you're asking for trouble not taking a baseball cap to Asia).

When I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5, I was thinking 'this is a balls up waiting to happen'. I've got about as much navigational sense as David Blunkett and as much common sense as Forrest Gump. Anyhow, my dad, mum and sister came to see me off as you can see below. I think as much to make sure they got rid of me for at least six months so they can have peace and quiet as it was to wish me well on my travels.

Part of my inspiration, ma famille (two brothers, two sister in laws and one niece missing).

So I board my short Air Berlin flight, listening to my music and just relaxing. Simple enough. When I arrive a Tegal, the fun begins. I have to run to Terminal B after trying to translate to an all speaking German with no understanding of English - ignorant of me I know, but I thought English was the second most commonly spoken language.

As I check in and round the corner to my gate, I get a taster of the chaos that awaits me in 9 hours time when I touch down in Beijing. A loud din of Mandarin, people shoving each other aside, iPhones and selfie sticks aplenty and screen displaying Chinese writing. Safe to say, I'm thinking I could still catch a flight back to London . . . No, I can do this. Don't be a pussy!

Hainan Airlines from Tegal to Beijing was a pleasant experience, the below picture can validate that for you.

'This is it, don't get scared now!'

A Chinese guy asked to switch seats with me, insisting it was a better seat. A glance backwards revealed him and his wife sitting next to a giant Chinese man, and by giant I mean, about 6 foot, five. His legs spread eagle, a menacing grin on his face and not a word of English coming from his mouth. A tough choice, considering I had a vacant seat next to me. Politely repeating five times, I said I was OK where I was. His hustle evidently hadn't worked and he said something which I'm sure was meant to offend me before he went back to his wife. Safe to say, I stretched across both my seats, plenty of leg room and indulged in 'American Sniper' (great film, definitely worth a watch). Dan (1) - Disgruntled Chinese man (0).

Day 2 - 25th June.

I arrived at 10:30am, in 32 degree heat and wearing jeans. I jumped on a transit from the runway to the terminal and went through customers without a hitch. My luggage came through the conveyor fine and I was out of the airport in under half an hour whilst others were left scratching their heads, waiting for their luggage. Dan (2) - China (0).

When I tried to get a cab, with my hostel address in Chinese, I hit a bit barrier. Nobody knew what the hell was going on. Cars were flying in left, right and centre, people were yelling, other touts were yelling '100', '200' or '250' and flicking business cards in my face. I'm out of my depth, I thought.

Finally, I negotiated a cab with a smiling China man, who took me into the parking lot and loaded me into his black, Toyota. Driving out, I thought to myself I'm never going to make it to my hostel. I'm going to end up in the Hutongs (back alleys) somewhere and get robbed. When we arrived at the hostel, the driver demanded an extra fifty Yuan because of the highway charges. Why oh why didn't I take the subway. This did not bode well for the rest of my trip in Beijing. 350 down in an hour, which is only £35 but in China, you can buy 35 beers for that! Dan (2) - China (1).

Checking into the hostel, was simple enough and walking into my six bed dorm was nerve racking, I will admit. I've never done anything like this before and it was, as I put it to Canadian Dan and New Zealand Will, 'a baptism of fire'. 

My first bed. The pillow was low and the mattress hard but I quite enjoyed the experience.

I spoke to Will and asked him where the places to be were. He told me about a small district just up from the hostel that had a great bar. I said I'd take a short nap and then head over with him if I could. He happily (or secretly pretended to be happy) obliged but I passed out with my bags next to me, in jeans and a t-shirt.

Waking up at 4am, sweating in the humidity and looking around a strange environment made me feel a little uneasy but I was here. I'd made it to Beijing in one piece, a little lighter on money, and full of optimism that to morrow was going to be a better day. Hopefully.

Overall score: Screw the score, I won. Day 1 belonged to me.