SATURDAY 12TH MAY 2012 ­ BST +7HRS ­ The Forbidden City Back Exit!

This is really an excuse to post a blog to show one of the magnificent towers that sit at the 4 corners of the rectangular compound that forms the Forbidden city that boast intricate roofs with 72 ridges.  Equally impressive are three pagodas that sit atop the hill at the rear of the Forbidden Palace reputedly built just so the Emperor had something to look at when leaving his private apartments!

Our exit was more of a full body massage affair!  We had to walk along the roadway beside the moat besieged by street vendors and surrounded by thousands of Chinese tourists all looking for or waiting for their bus and there were nearly as many buses!!

Again good team work between Paul our tour escort and one of his many brothers – the bus driver - ensured that we were in the perfect position on a busy cross roads to jump on the bus.  More spectacular was the U-turn performed by the driver in the centre of this chaos to avoid a traffic jam!  A bit of an ordeal but nobody got lost and a cool beer and Chinese and western buffet lunch was most welcome after another morning of ‘highlights’.