Vodafone World Traveller. It caused much stress and wasted time at the beginning of my trip, but has now come into its own – I spent hours on the phone for just £5. And it meant I could access mobile data which was so much faster than Wi-Fi. It also meant I could finally upload some photos without the WordPress app crashing. Then out into the city:
… to the train station. With my passport. Airport-like security seemed to be kidding the public as none of the staff seemed to be paying much attention to what was going through:
But we got our tickets:
And the metro back – I noticed that they use plastic cards which they recycle (London Underground please take more):
Another odd jacket slogan: “School kills”. Odd – I’ve always found education to be life-enhancing rather than life-terminating.
East and West pagodas were the nominal target for the afternoon but, like the metro, were still under construction. So we had mango sorbet and a strawberry shake instead and then wandered back slowly (stopping occasionally for people to take photos of us – we’re still the main attraction in town, which for the camera shy doesn’t sit easily, but I’m slowly getting used to it), past fur sellers (I assume it’s real, but I can’t tell the difference):
… lots of police and the army:
Something was obviously going on, but I couldn’t tell what.
This translation perplexed me somewhat:
And to the supermarket. When we emerged, the place was heaving. Heavy traffic (with “right on red”causing utter chaos, not helped by the fact that scooters seem to be immune to the few traffic rules they have):
Why the crowds? Maybe it was because it was Christmas Eve, but there’s only a nominal nod to Christmas here – a few banners in hotels/shops, some Christmas music and the odd street vendor selling white fur-lined red hats. I guess I’ll never really know.
