BURNING BAD KARMA
A free day in Beijing. A group of us heads to the Summer Palace by way of the Metro and a ferry. It is hot and humid and a long walk to the Metro, in what we think is the right direction. Once there, it runs very smoothly and is surprisingly not crowded, though it is Sunday. Lost again on the way to the ferry. A kindly middle-aged fellow leads us in the right direction, then the ferry ride from the lower depths of samsara begins. It is crowded and hot and, when we get splashed by a passing speedboat, somehow my face starts bleeding. When we think it's over we discover that we have to board a second ferry that is even more crowded and has a Chinese woman with a megaphone.When we finally do reach the Summer Palace, we make it our mission to find the way out as quickly as possible. Again, we have no idea if we're headed in the right direction but figure we just burned off enough bad karma in the ferries that we deserve a break. When we do find the exit, it's taxis to the Hard Rock Cafe, one of which isn't a taxi, but nobody cares at that point.
Too weary to write
One day in Tibet is worth
A thousand elsewhere
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