Author: Travel Tori

Hello!

I just came back from a weekend in Beijing and it was a really wonderful discovery. There was so much to do and see, the city center is full of hidden gems and historical monuments!

Here is our little 3-day itinerary: (from Shanghai, Beijing is only a 4h20 train ride away)

Je rentre tout juste d’un weekend à Pékin, quelle découverte ! Il y a tellement de choses à voir et à faire là-bas, le vieux centre ville est chargé d’histoire et il y a des monuments fantastiques à chaque coin de rue !

Voici notre petit itinéraire de 3 jours : (en partant de Shanghai, Pékin est à seulement 4h20 en TGV)

Day 1: Center of Beijing

Visit of The Forbidden City, Jing’an Park for a beautiful view on the city, small streets and traditional Hutongs houses, Qianmen street for some nice food and Wangfujing snack street for some super local vibes. Have some Peking Duck at Da Dong, it’s one of the best places in Beijing and it was really delicious!

Première journée : Découverte du vieux centre de Pékin

Visite de la Cité Interdite; du parc de Jing’an, qui offre une vue splendide sur la ville; balade dans les petites rues et visite d’une Hutong, maison traditionnelle pékinoise; arrêt dans le rue de Quianmen pour un petit repas et dans celle de Wangfujing pour observer les locaux manger des snacks (toujours sur des brochettes, ils adorent ça !). Diner au restaurant Da Dong pour déguster un canard laqué, le meilleur de Pékin !

Day 2: Great Wall Festival

That was our main reason to go to Beijing, a techno festival next to the Great Wall. We only stayed a couple of hours but it was such a cool experience! I’d 200% recommend it!

Deuxième journée : Festival de techno sur la Grande Muraille de Chine

C’était notre raison principale pour aller à Pékin ce weekend là et nous n’avons vraiment pas été déçus, c’était incroyable ! Un festival de techno en pleine campagne devant la Grande Muraille, je recommande à 200% !

Day 3: Visit of the Great Wall

So as we couldn’t actually visit the Great Wall during the Festival (as there was no way to get up there) we decided to go back the following day. We went to Mutianyu, which is only about an hour drive away from Beijing. We were really scared to find crowds there but despite it being the most well preserved part of the Wall, we could actually escape the crowds from time to time. The Wall is honestly one of the most beautiful places I have been to, it’s very magical and mystical in the middle of mind blowing mountains.

Troisième journée : Visite de la Grande Muraille de Chine

Nous avions prévu de la visiter après le festival mais finalement il n’y avait aucun accès pour y grimper depuis le concert donc nous y sommes retournés le jour d’après. Nous sommes allés à Mutianyu, qui est à seulement une heure environ de Pékin en voiture. Nous avions vraiment peur de nous retrouver parmi une foule de touristes, car c’est la partie la mieux conservée de la muraille, mais finalement nous avons eu de la chance et nous avons même pu être seuls parfois ! La Grande Muraille est honnêtement un des plus beaux endroits où je sois allée, c’était magique !

If you have more time in Beijing, I’d recommend you to go to the Summer Palace and Behai Park, we went to both but didn’t have much time to really explore these places.

Avec plus de temps à Pékin, je recommande vivement la visite du Palais d’été et du parc de Behai, nous y sommes allés mais par manque de temps nous n’avons pas pu vraiment découvrir tout ce que ces endroits ont à offrir.

See you next time Beijing !

Here are some thoughts after moving to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

After living in South America and traveling to India, I thought I would be completely prepared to move to Cambodia. Everyone seemed to agree that it is a very beautiful and relaxed country and that it really deserved its nickname of the “land of smiles”. However, I am not sure what I was expecting coming out of Phnom Penh International Airport but I felt pretty overwhelmed with everything. It suddenly looked and smelled like India, only a little less loud.

Apart from India, it is the first Asian country that I visit, and during the half an hour ride from the airport to my new home, I could not stop myself from comparing the two countries (even though both places are completely different).

I guess when you move to a place, you always have that feeling: what am I doing here? I recall having the same mixed and confused feelings between excitement, fear and stress when moving to Buenos Aires. You fear that you would not enjoy this new home as much as you would have liked to. So everyone probably feels the same, especially when moving to a completely different place with a really different culture.

After traveling around Cambodia for a week and spending a few days in Phnom Penh, I quickly started to get used to the city. Crossing the road didn’t seem that difficult anymore, I discovered a ton of amazing restaurants and cafes, cool stores with very cheap shopping and met so many friendly Cambodians and expats.

I took all the pictures above on Silk Island, a small island very close to Phnom Penh. It was one of those day activities were you feel like: Ok I LOVE this city now. There is so much to discover, the people are amazingly friendly, the kids are always saying “hello” and waving at you and the nature is beautiful. This island is so close to the city and it is so perfect to relax and spend the day before heading back to Phnom Penh numerous places to go out.

I am so happy to have the strength to move places like that and to be able to experience so much by staying a year or half a year somewhere.

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