23/1/2010

 

I get to the hostel after 1 a.m. after trying to recover my photos (charged 25Y only for the use of the internet machine!), the place is shut due to 12.00 curfew, I wake up Mamas younger daughter sleeping in the front room ( I make enough noise outside to wake up the dogs, and they wake her up for me!), she growns as she opens the door, she may have just fallen asleep. I had checked out earlier in the day, so make up my bed in the dark, I know the room already, and borrow another blanket from the next free bed too.

 

I get a huge egg and tomato pancake breakfast from Mamma and her farewell hug and good-luck charm, distrubuted to all guests when leaving. I donate my thermal underwears (fluffy and comfy bought in Beijing, I will miss them, but it is always easier to give away what you dont want!) and waterproof trousers, hopfully I wont need these. the plan is to get rid of clothes as I go south and to warmth. In the first hour on the train I miss my thermals.

 

One of her taxi friends picks me up from the hostel in a little minibus (normal taxis dont come into these small alleyways). I notice she is going in different direction but she asures me (in Chinese). At the nus station I find that the prices are far higher and different times, she has delivered me to the wrong station! a phone call to Mamma and she returns and passes me to another minibus which takes me to the railway station.

 

I put the luggage through the x-ray then remember I dont have a ticket so have to run to (another) hall to get my ticket. I buy a hard-seater place for 41Y, very cheap (wish I had bought a sleeper). these are the cheapest tickets (other than the standing ones!) and th place is full of very poor farmer local chinese. I am bored so gather a group around me and start teaching English and learning a little chinese. some of them can already read a little English. I feel sneered at by the very guys I was teaching earlier, this is not just about me, I have noticed poeple making comments and staring at their own kind too, just less obviously. As a ethnic group they also look more like mexican/American indian, darker skins than normally expected, than traditional chinese. Some quite attractive, boht male and female. Some women are sewing/knitting diligently. People tend to look at one anohter longer than I am used to, looking away while interacting is considered rude and suspicious.

 

The aisle way in the train gets mopped and then regularly swept of rubbish (they prefer the floor for throwing rubbish such as sunflower seed peels), the staff also act as food and souvenier sales people all through the trip. The standing passangers have to shuffle around and move their luggage to let people and trolleys through. people seem to interact easily and help each other out by looking after kids, accomodating luggage and sharing seats while travelling. variety of food is also carried including haunces of cooked meat!. This is a long trip, after anbout 9 hours I am gettitng headache being exposed to constant chinese chatter mostly be women and head to the restaurant for some refuge. My request for coffee was laughed off earlier in the day and offered beer instead, but settled for a small bowl of water melon which has been selling well during the day. The meal is poor and relatively expensive and one of the "chefs" tries to get me to leave the restaurant so they can clean the carpet. If you sit there while not eating they do not like it, and also if any one has any kind of "authority" they like to boss you around and tell you what you can or cant do. I ignore him and he leaves me alone until I am ready to return to my seat and get ready to get off at Kuenming. There are no trains to Guilin till tomorrow 11 a.m. I head out in search of a hostel with the usual approaches along the way eventaully find it. The staff are very poorly spoken in English and I am roomed with TC. He is from Singapore, travelling with a huge backpack and unfortunately full of stories of people going missing or having their organs stolen or robbed in China, cheerful fellow! I try to help him out with some information about travelling arrangements and reassure him based on what I have seen so far. He has not travelled alone in China before and has just come off a tour. the next morning I buy a flight to Guilin instead, more civilised and at 1.5 hours much shorter than the 22 hours train ride. after lunching with TC he gets me a taxi to the airport. I fall asleep on the seats in the boarding lounge for about half an hour to wake up to an empty hall, there had been other flights going out of the same gate but I can t remember after that. my flight passangers must have gone through while I slept.  

 

On the shuttle bus from the airport to Guilin I am asking around for the railway station (where I need to catch Yangshuo bus) and eventually an American guy sitting in from tells me this is my stop, he accompanies me to the station and gets me on a bus to Yangshuo. This is quite surreal, the bus drives around slowly for next half hour tauting for and picking up passangers from along the streets, no clear bus stops but I imagine they have signs on the bus.

 

I am being driven in the middle of nowhere in the dark, full of people I dont know, assisted by yet another stranger, without being able to express myself fully, and I relax.

 

At Yangshou it is drizzling, first rain I have had in China, nice. The information kiosk unhelpful and I head into town while aware of these huge rocks looming over the town in the dark. after about half an hour of wandering, being accustod by various trades and professional ladies of the night I find the hostel I am looking for. Luckily the town is very small and I havent really had to walk a lot. the hostel is noisy and i can hear the disco music loud and clear. the guy offers me another room in their other hostel, which turns out to be quiet and quite nice. at 60Y I have a room with double bed and bathroom and a bathtub!!!

 

24th River rafting with 3 young MBA student Americans from Shanghai, I am in awe of these Karsts towering over us as we drift by on bamboo raft, it is cold but bearable. On the way back I buy various interesting looking food items, one is a large citrus fruit which you literally have to wrestly the peel off, but tasty once you get to the centre, a little like a large grapefruit but nicer. The other is possibly dried sharon fruit, flat and light brown colourd and sweet, the third is a rather tasteless yam like vegetable.

The lunch is disapointing, duck in some kind of batter. The Americans are leaving today.

I spent couple of hours with Micky, the young receptionist (christian, prays to god to help him find girl friend, even though a certain French Chinese student female has been spending a lot of time with him in my presence, this is not a big enougha sign from the almighty) exchanging languages. I manage to learn to write 5 characters in Chinese! it is quite hard as these are made up of different shaped strokes and to complicate matters you cant just write them in any order you like, there is a right order!

 

I make a mistake of watching a dvd, Inglorious Bastards, what a shite! My own fault for watching crap.

 

25th

 

I test myself with Micky and manage to remember my characters. Cycle ride with Michael (Chinese Australian) who is travelling alone, retired, wife still working. He has been waiting for me a while but later I have to wait for him as he collects Yvonne (whose name I forgot while we were cycling, and for good reason too). Yvonne (Chinese Canadian) is concerned that the ride might be too hard and wants to take a tandem bike (that Michael will help pedal) rather than the mountain bikes that are more suited to the route. As we set off I watch amused as Yvonne makes comments in his ear and gestures with her arms as to the directions. Earlier she got quite annoyed as she was bing told where we can and can not go by the cycle rental lady, Yvonne explaining to me that people like to tell you what to do around here. The cycle ride is a boring one as we are limited as to where we can go due to the capabilities of the tandem bike, we have an easy day, take some photos and head back. I tease Yvonne posing sexily for the photos. 

I have various snack and buy 5 pieces of cakes too (variety of course!) and later have a Thai massage. The massage is good and I make sure it is a gentle one!

 

I get a good nights sleep, last couple of nights have been reasonably good.

 

26th

Late getting up, short meditation and exercise. Packed quickly and handed in some clothes to be laundered when checking out. Michael wants to go for another cycle ride and I have my only cleay pair of Jeans on! I talk him out of that and we have a walk in town and have Beerfish which is a local speciality,sitting in a restaurant overlooking the river and the Karsts. Very nice. sorry fish!

 

I have another walk through town, and head for hostel to check emails, update log. Leaving for Shengzhen on the night bus, may buy a small computer there. Hope to have another massage before heading off. Tomorrow to Hongkong for overnight stay and two days sight seeing followed by flight to Hanoi on the 28th.