Next stop: China

Well after I went home and rested a bit and recuperated and told my mother that I'm a professional adventurer, I was back on the road. This time, in Shang Simla, China.

Shang Simla is a picturesque village nestled in the mountains of China. It's a rather quaint small town, smaller than I'm used to, actually.

I was summoned here to Shang Simla by Deng Wang, who said upon meeting me that he'd heard of my exploits in Egypt. I can't say I did much in Egypt to warrant Mr. Deng's recommendation; but apparently when I was introduced to him, I was described as a "relic hunter and weapons expert."

Mr. Deng (the Chinese have this curious custom of writing their last name first) looked surprised to see me. After all, I'm taller than he is, and I'm a fair, blond, green-eyed woman. He asked me to go into the Forbidden City, to go to the Halls of the Lost Army and fetch an ancient relic in the tomb below.

I said, okay, no problem. I can do that. Hey, after surviving a mummy in the pyramids in Egypt, I kinda feel like I could do just about anything. I pretty much feel bulletproof at this point.

This is the base camp in Shang Simla. An improvement over the tents in Egypt, n'est-ce pas?

I approached the Forbidden City (which is actually the main square in Shang Simla) at about nine-thirty local time, and got to the Halls of the Lost Army soon afterward.