Stairs, once again.
This time when climbing up a hill after visiting the Reed flute cave.
Took a bus (number 3, 1 yuan) out to Reed flute cave, where we realized they'd changed the entrance fee to a rather pricey one (90 yuan) compared to the what it said in Lonely Planet China, 2009. Although we weren't planning on bringing any LP's along, we somehow ended up with a couple, and boy are we thankful.
Even though a lot of the info is outdated, especially prices, we can't survive without it.
Anyways, the cave was impressing, but all the Chinese tourists and guides were not. There where plenty of interesting looking caves and holes to explore with our torches, but far too many 'No attendance' signs.
So if you've been in a huge, over 180 million years old cave, with 'stunning rock formations', don't bother.
Ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant ( we were the only guests for most of the time, but what else is new) where no one could speak English. (Once again, what else is new) Thankful for our vegan passports we pointed at different pictures (carrot, corn, rice, cabbage, beans, potato...) and repeated one of the few words we know: 'doufu' - tofu. And we got served exactly that, while the little kids were keeping us entertained. How will I ever manage to live in Finland after this, when I've gotten all too used to getting delicious food wherever, whenever and ridic cheap?
It's a bit funny though... the Chinese often think there's something wrong with us when we don't understand what they say. Often they then ask us to write or read, in Chinese of course. When we're not able to do this either they shake their head, lean forward, and shout in our ears. To their dissapointment, we don't seem to understand even then, and we keep on speaking nonsense. We must really be utterly deaf and mute.
Now we should start packing, tomorrow we're heading for Li River, so let's hope for good weather!
//H
Showing posts with label Guilin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guilin. Show all posts
Nov 3, 2010
Nov 2, 2010
4 weeks - Day 28
More stairs.
After spending most of the day reading books we've swapped at various hostels, and eating lunch by the Li river, watching the Chinese swim in the dirty water, and enjoying the sunshine, we headed for Seven Star park. Missing everything that was marked on the tourist map we were given, we ended up climbing up two impressing hills (this is where the stairs enter the story).
On the first hill, called Monkey Mountain by us, we were surrounded by monkeys. Would it not have been for the mosquitos having a feast on us, we could probably had stared at the monkeys for hours on end. Watching them playfully fight and jump from tree to tree, often falling down and hitting the ground, felt like they had put on a private show just for us. But when trying to get down from the hill, the oh-so-cute monkeys where not-so-cute anymore. Suddenly the monkeys where absolutly everywhere, blocking every path, and getting rather aggressive if we tried to pass. With the 'Monkeys, Dangerous' sign at the entrance of the park in fresh memory, we avoided them as best we could, and finally made it down.
On the next hill we had an absolutly amazing view of Guilin, and we sat up there watching the sun go down behind the beautiful hills, and the city come to life, with neon lights starting to blink everywhere. (We don't find this very tasteful, but we seem to be the only ones in this country, since blinking neon lights are... well, everywhere).
This turned out to be one of our less smart moves, since they had no lights in the park, which meant we had to make it down he hill (and the very slippery stairs, if I might add. But I didn't fall. Cough. That often. Coughcough.) and through the park in the dark. Luckily Ruut had her flashlight with her, so we made it. And we got to see a whole lot of bats on our way out, which was cool. Except that I mean a whole LOT of bats.
...
At the moment Sophia is finnishing her blogpost, and Ruut is taking a shower. I'm sitting in the common area of the hostel, impressed by the French girl sitting in the sofa, our new roomie, who seems to be learning Chinese quite fast. Outside, by the river, they're having karaoke night. As every night.
Although we've already been in this country for several weeks, the language is still total gibberish, and everything I learn I forget as fast. Chinese sounds a bit like Swedish (the kind of Swedish they speak in Sweden) and a lot like the 'ching chong' language you used to speak when mimicing Chinese as a kid.
Oh, and today we've been traveling for four weeks exactly.
I'm not sure if that makes me happy or sad. We've seen so much and been so many places, it feels incredible it's only been four weeks. But on the other hand... we've done so little and been so few places, has it already been four weeks??
//H
After spending most of the day reading books we've swapped at various hostels, and eating lunch by the Li river, watching the Chinese swim in the dirty water, and enjoying the sunshine, we headed for Seven Star park. Missing everything that was marked on the tourist map we were given, we ended up climbing up two impressing hills (this is where the stairs enter the story).
On the first hill, called Monkey Mountain by us, we were surrounded by monkeys. Would it not have been for the mosquitos having a feast on us, we could probably had stared at the monkeys for hours on end. Watching them playfully fight and jump from tree to tree, often falling down and hitting the ground, felt like they had put on a private show just for us. But when trying to get down from the hill, the oh-so-cute monkeys where not-so-cute anymore. Suddenly the monkeys where absolutly everywhere, blocking every path, and getting rather aggressive if we tried to pass. With the 'Monkeys, Dangerous' sign at the entrance of the park in fresh memory, we avoided them as best we could, and finally made it down.
On the next hill we had an absolutly amazing view of Guilin, and we sat up there watching the sun go down behind the beautiful hills, and the city come to life, with neon lights starting to blink everywhere. (We don't find this very tasteful, but we seem to be the only ones in this country, since blinking neon lights are... well, everywhere).
This turned out to be one of our less smart moves, since they had no lights in the park, which meant we had to make it down he hill (and the very slippery stairs, if I might add. But I didn't fall. Cough. That often. Coughcough.) and through the park in the dark. Luckily Ruut had her flashlight with her, so we made it. And we got to see a whole lot of bats on our way out, which was cool. Except that I mean a whole LOT of bats.
...
At the moment Sophia is finnishing her blogpost, and Ruut is taking a shower. I'm sitting in the common area of the hostel, impressed by the French girl sitting in the sofa, our new roomie, who seems to be learning Chinese quite fast. Outside, by the river, they're having karaoke night. As every night.
Although we've already been in this country for several weeks, the language is still total gibberish, and everything I learn I forget as fast. Chinese sounds a bit like Swedish (the kind of Swedish they speak in Sweden) and a lot like the 'ching chong' language you used to speak when mimicing Chinese as a kid.
Oh, and today we've been traveling for four weeks exactly.
I'm not sure if that makes me happy or sad. We've seen so much and been so many places, it feels incredible it's only been four weeks. But on the other hand... we've done so little and been so few places, has it already been four weeks??
//H
The Food
We've all come to agree that the best way to experience a new culture and country is by being a very open-minded food tourists. And that we are. Actually, the first thing we did in Beijing was to buy a deep fried piece of dough. They're everywhere and always taste different, so we have to try them in every city.
And China makes it so easy to try out the food. You can't walk down a street without coming across some street stand that sells food (steamed corn on the cob or sweet potato, sugar glazed or au naturel fruits, some kind of pancakes fried in a LOT af oil or a piece of deep fried dough). So no one can blame us for wanting to try all these things, and since they all cost under one euro the price isn't even a problem. We don't have to choose what to eat because it's so cheap we can afford all of it (maybe that's a bad thing, but we don't see it that way). And we've come to an agreement; our food budget will be the last budget we make any cuts on.
Oh, and the supermarket. They have a whole section of tofu(!!). It would be an understatement to say that we go crazy buying food there. We have to try all the different kinds of tofu, the marinated, the fried, the dry, the twisted, the beef-like... You can also mix your own salad or buy steaming hot fried rice or noodels. And after all the fried and greasy foods, nothing tastes better than a fresh orange or those berrie-like fruits that taste just like apples, only sweeter, that are found in the enormous fruit and vegetable section.
But there isn't so much candy here. The Chinese seem to eat dried fruits when they crave a sweet snack. We have found some American candy, but since they taste only of the artificial flavours they're full of, we usually give them a miss. My personal favorite sweet-thing is puffed rice mixed with sugar (rolled into a ball), yumyum! On the train from Russia we were tipped by Lien (also a veg) about one sort of Oreo cookies that we could eat. So now everytime we buy food, a package or three of Oreos always find their way into our basket. Thank you Lien for the tip!
By flashing our Vegan Passports (they're a lifesaver!) we can easily communicate with most venders over the language-barrier. They point out the ingerdients and we (most of the time) know what we're eating. The page with a happy face shows pictures of vegetables, beans and fruits, and the the page with a sad face shows meat, egg and milk products. Most people understand what we want them to do, but some just stare at us in bewilderment and then shout for reinforcment (it's not unuasal for our passports to be surrounded by loads of Chinese no matter whether they are passerbyes or another salesperson, they're all just as curious). At least I think we do a pretty good job at pointing at the, for example, dumpling and then a the passport with a questioning face. Our Chinese knowledge is practically non-existing but one word we DO know is 'mei you' which means 'there's none'. This we frantically keep repeating while pointing at the meat page.
We've come to note that the pictures are better to use, the text is too long (few read it thorougly, we've been served eggs even after they read it) and the word 'vegan' is pretty unfamiliar to most so to just ask if there's meat in it with pictures is better than explaining why we don't want the meat.
Some awkward situaions have come up when the Chinese person actually speaks English. He or she looks at us like we're stupid pushing a picture book in his face and says 'would you like to know what's inside these?'. Since we most of the time feel stupid talking English to a Chinese, who clearly don't understand a word we say, we've started to skip the step where you ask 'do you speak english' and hop right to pictures and hand signals.
They signal numbers quite differently than we're used to. This created some confusment in the beginning, but we're starting to learn. Touching your thumb to your indexfinger, forming a circle, and lifting the rest of the fingers up means three. Making a cross with your indexfingers means ten. We haven't even tried to understand the jians(cents). They lift their thumb up and (somehow) signal with the remaining fingers how many jians. But since they probably lost us at the yuans we have to wait until the seller understands that we don't, and writes the amount on a piece of paper.
I'll give you a run-down of what we ate yesterday, as an example of out eating habits (I know, I know, intressesmurfarna hoppar. Please bear with me, we need to prove to the folks back home that we're actually eating something).
For breakfast we started off with some nuts (okey, we ate the entire bag. 'cept for the plastic), but only to get enough energy to go out and look for some more food. We ended up with some fruits, yes we do eat healthy things too.
For lunch, not long after breakfast, we ate noodles and vegetable soup with "soijarouhe" in our room. Then we walked towards the shopping street (with most restaurants and snack bars centered around it, hehe) and on the way grabbed some steamed corn on the cob.
Arriving at the shopping street we bought a pancake-like thing with a very spicy sauce on it and some water.
We try to drink a lot of water. We have our fancy refillable water 'bags', made of soft plastic so you can fold them up as they empty, which are very handy when you have to carry them around in your backpack.
(Hanna says: See Hanna's parents? We honestly use them ALL the time, and are so thankful we brought them along, so there.)
Then we bought some overpriced apples (as we were on the biggest tourist street in town there's no wonder the prices had sky-rocketed).
At the top of Solitary Beauty Peak we ate (well deserved) ice cream.
While walking back towards the restaurant street, we walked by a man popping popcorn and puffing rice over a fire. When we continued our walk with two huge bags of both popcorn and puffed rice we reflected on the fact that in China popcorn are sweet.
So note, that when you crave salt in China, don't buy popcorn. Even the potato crisps are sweeter than back at home. And with the weirdest flavors, ever heard of cucumber or fich soup chips? When trying out the first one, we found out that the Chinese are far too good at artificial flavours (the chips tasted just like cucumber, and that's two things that shouldn't be mixed).
Back to our food diary, we then bought a cup full of very spicy tofu slices and six deep fried dough pieces (mostly made of sweet potato). This because we had lost hope in finding the dumpling restaurant where we'd been planningt on eating dinner.
But then we stumbled across a street kitchen kalled 'Little Brother's Bbq' and, some moments later, found ourselves sitting on very small and very low plastic chairs eating deep fried vegetables and pieces of tofu that we'd picked out ourselves (much like Megabite).
A swedish couple walked by looking for a place to eat and went to check out our place. They gave the place a glance and exclaimed 'definitivt INTE' ( definitely NOT) and walked away. Quity picky people, we thought, since the place didn't look any shabbier that the rest (on the contrary it looked fairly decent) and the food looked fresh, except the meat (which attracted all the flies). But since we wouldn't eat the meat and everything would be deep fried we didn't think twice about eating there.
Back at the hostel we ate what candy we had left, the puffed rise and a bag of chips.
Content, and unable to lay on our bellies, we then went to sleep.
So to all you worried parents out there; I hope this has set your minds at ease. Maybe you are now worried that we over eat. Well don't, when our clothes get too tight we'll lay back on the chips (for a while at least).
Actually the only time we feel bad when food is concerned, is when we've eaten too much and can't possibly eat any more, but we see food all around us that we'd love to try, but can't. Still, the next day at dinner we make the same mistake again (in a restaurant we just have to try everything they have). And as most restaurants and snack places (luckily for us) have picture menues or food out on display we see every delicious course and have to taste it.
//S
Ps. Mamma, the fact that there's so much food here doesn't mean that we don't want the Christmas candy I asked you about. We long for a bag of assamix or marianne!
And China makes it so easy to try out the food. You can't walk down a street without coming across some street stand that sells food (steamed corn on the cob or sweet potato, sugar glazed or au naturel fruits, some kind of pancakes fried in a LOT af oil or a piece of deep fried dough). So no one can blame us for wanting to try all these things, and since they all cost under one euro the price isn't even a problem. We don't have to choose what to eat because it's so cheap we can afford all of it (maybe that's a bad thing, but we don't see it that way). And we've come to an agreement; our food budget will be the last budget we make any cuts on.
Oh, and the supermarket. They have a whole section of tofu(!!). It would be an understatement to say that we go crazy buying food there. We have to try all the different kinds of tofu, the marinated, the fried, the dry, the twisted, the beef-like... You can also mix your own salad or buy steaming hot fried rice or noodels. And after all the fried and greasy foods, nothing tastes better than a fresh orange or those berrie-like fruits that taste just like apples, only sweeter, that are found in the enormous fruit and vegetable section.
But there isn't so much candy here. The Chinese seem to eat dried fruits when they crave a sweet snack. We have found some American candy, but since they taste only of the artificial flavours they're full of, we usually give them a miss. My personal favorite sweet-thing is puffed rice mixed with sugar (rolled into a ball), yumyum! On the train from Russia we were tipped by Lien (also a veg) about one sort of Oreo cookies that we could eat. So now everytime we buy food, a package or three of Oreos always find their way into our basket. Thank you Lien for the tip!
By flashing our Vegan Passports (they're a lifesaver!) we can easily communicate with most venders over the language-barrier. They point out the ingerdients and we (most of the time) know what we're eating. The page with a happy face shows pictures of vegetables, beans and fruits, and the the page with a sad face shows meat, egg and milk products. Most people understand what we want them to do, but some just stare at us in bewilderment and then shout for reinforcment (it's not unuasal for our passports to be surrounded by loads of Chinese no matter whether they are passerbyes or another salesperson, they're all just as curious). At least I think we do a pretty good job at pointing at the, for example, dumpling and then a the passport with a questioning face. Our Chinese knowledge is practically non-existing but one word we DO know is 'mei you' which means 'there's none'. This we frantically keep repeating while pointing at the meat page.
We've come to note that the pictures are better to use, the text is too long (few read it thorougly, we've been served eggs even after they read it) and the word 'vegan' is pretty unfamiliar to most so to just ask if there's meat in it with pictures is better than explaining why we don't want the meat.
Some awkward situaions have come up when the Chinese person actually speaks English. He or she looks at us like we're stupid pushing a picture book in his face and says 'would you like to know what's inside these?'. Since we most of the time feel stupid talking English to a Chinese, who clearly don't understand a word we say, we've started to skip the step where you ask 'do you speak english' and hop right to pictures and hand signals.
They signal numbers quite differently than we're used to. This created some confusment in the beginning, but we're starting to learn. Touching your thumb to your indexfinger, forming a circle, and lifting the rest of the fingers up means three. Making a cross with your indexfingers means ten. We haven't even tried to understand the jians(cents). They lift their thumb up and (somehow) signal with the remaining fingers how many jians. But since they probably lost us at the yuans we have to wait until the seller understands that we don't, and writes the amount on a piece of paper.
I'll give you a run-down of what we ate yesterday, as an example of out eating habits (I know, I know, intressesmurfarna hoppar. Please bear with me, we need to prove to the folks back home that we're actually eating something).
For breakfast we started off with some nuts (okey, we ate the entire bag. 'cept for the plastic), but only to get enough energy to go out and look for some more food. We ended up with some fruits, yes we do eat healthy things too.
For lunch, not long after breakfast, we ate noodles and vegetable soup with "soijarouhe" in our room. Then we walked towards the shopping street (with most restaurants and snack bars centered around it, hehe) and on the way grabbed some steamed corn on the cob.
Arriving at the shopping street we bought a pancake-like thing with a very spicy sauce on it and some water.
We try to drink a lot of water. We have our fancy refillable water 'bags', made of soft plastic so you can fold them up as they empty, which are very handy when you have to carry them around in your backpack.
(Hanna says: See Hanna's parents? We honestly use them ALL the time, and are so thankful we brought them along, so there.)
Then we bought some overpriced apples (as we were on the biggest tourist street in town there's no wonder the prices had sky-rocketed).
At the top of Solitary Beauty Peak we ate (well deserved) ice cream.
While walking back towards the restaurant street, we walked by a man popping popcorn and puffing rice over a fire. When we continued our walk with two huge bags of both popcorn and puffed rice we reflected on the fact that in China popcorn are sweet.
So note, that when you crave salt in China, don't buy popcorn. Even the potato crisps are sweeter than back at home. And with the weirdest flavors, ever heard of cucumber or fich soup chips? When trying out the first one, we found out that the Chinese are far too good at artificial flavours (the chips tasted just like cucumber, and that's two things that shouldn't be mixed).
Back to our food diary, we then bought a cup full of very spicy tofu slices and six deep fried dough pieces (mostly made of sweet potato). This because we had lost hope in finding the dumpling restaurant where we'd been planningt on eating dinner.
But then we stumbled across a street kitchen kalled 'Little Brother's Bbq' and, some moments later, found ourselves sitting on very small and very low plastic chairs eating deep fried vegetables and pieces of tofu that we'd picked out ourselves (much like Megabite).
A swedish couple walked by looking for a place to eat and went to check out our place. They gave the place a glance and exclaimed 'definitivt INTE' ( definitely NOT) and walked away. Quity picky people, we thought, since the place didn't look any shabbier that the rest (on the contrary it looked fairly decent) and the food looked fresh, except the meat (which attracted all the flies). But since we wouldn't eat the meat and everything would be deep fried we didn't think twice about eating there.
Back at the hostel we ate what candy we had left, the puffed rise and a bag of chips.
Content, and unable to lay on our bellies, we then went to sleep.
So to all you worried parents out there; I hope this has set your minds at ease. Maybe you are now worried that we over eat. Well don't, when our clothes get too tight we'll lay back on the chips (for a while at least).
Actually the only time we feel bad when food is concerned, is when we've eaten too much and can't possibly eat any more, but we see food all around us that we'd love to try, but can't. Still, the next day at dinner we make the same mistake again (in a restaurant we just have to try everything they have). And as most restaurants and snack places (luckily for us) have picture menues or food out on display we see every delicious course and have to taste it.
//S
Ps. Mamma, the fact that there's so much food here doesn't mean that we don't want the Christmas candy I asked you about. We long for a bag of assamix or marianne!
Nov 1, 2010
Guiling - Day 27
Stairs.
Feels like we don't do much else in China but climb up stairs (or sit in trains). Whether it be the endless stairs of every metro station in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, the crooked 'stairs' of the Great Wall, or the stairs we climbed today, the ones leading up to the Solitary Beauty Peak of Guilin.
When arriving late last night in Guilin, we could already sense we'd come quite a bit South from Beijing. Although dark and closer to midnight, people where up and about, while Beijing usually went silent when sun set, around 5 or 6. We didn't need to wear doubble layered pants, and tripple layered shirts anymore either, which had been a neccesity in Beijing and Shanghai during the days, not to mention in the middle of the night.
Waking up this morning and being able to hunt for breakfast (ie. walk along the streets hoping to find a food stall with something eatable, perhaps even delish. Sophia will write more about this later) in shorts and little else, felt, well, unbelievable. We thought we'd never escape the cold, since it hasn't really gotten any warmer since Moscow, until now that is.
Later on it felt almost a bit too warm, sitting and sweating in the sun, reading a book (and being forced to pose with the businessmen walking around the pond in groups), in the park of the Sun and Moon pagoda, while Ruut and Sophia were hunting for lunch, water and shade.
It didn't get any cooler climbing up all the stairs that were mentioned earlier, to the Solitary Beauty Peak (entrance fee 70 yuan, for that you don't only get to climb mentioned Peak, but also see the replica of what used to be the home of a prince, the Peace Cave, and a lot of Uni students playing hoops). But it was definitely worth the climb, as we got a good view of the city, and the beautiful mountains surrounding it.
So far we like this city, and we especially like our hostel.
A bit far from the 'food street' (that we adore, of course. More of this later on, as said...) but right by the Main Road, and only a walking distance from the train station, our Xiao Yang Lou IY hostel has proven out to be worth every 2 euros and 27 cents we pay per night/person. It's extreemly new and clean, definitely fresher than any place we've stayed in so far. So if you like it clean, this is the place for you. Oh, and did I mention our beds are about two metres wide and our quilts made in heaven? However it sorta lacks character in all its steralized whiteness(especially compared to our last hostel, Pathfinder in Wuhan), but in a way that's a nice contrast to the city, in all it's colourfullnes and sounds and smells.
Ever since the train ride Ruut described, we're a tad sensitive when it comes to the smells... but hopefully that'll pass.
Oh well, off to brush my teeth and check if our laundry is done. Have to let Sophia write a very important blog post about the thing we love most when traveling: the food.
//H
ps. Since blogspot is off limits in China, we can not see our blog nor reply to your comments (luckily we see your comments though, and are able to blog, once again thanks to Ninjacloak) so I'll just have to reply here, for now. Varsogod Mona! Nice to hear that you liked it, wanna give me your e-mail or sum, so I don't have to reply here in the future? We love getting comments from you, abogal! Hugs!
Feels like we don't do much else in China but climb up stairs (or sit in trains). Whether it be the endless stairs of every metro station in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, the crooked 'stairs' of the Great Wall, or the stairs we climbed today, the ones leading up to the Solitary Beauty Peak of Guilin.
When arriving late last night in Guilin, we could already sense we'd come quite a bit South from Beijing. Although dark and closer to midnight, people where up and about, while Beijing usually went silent when sun set, around 5 or 6. We didn't need to wear doubble layered pants, and tripple layered shirts anymore either, which had been a neccesity in Beijing and Shanghai during the days, not to mention in the middle of the night.
Waking up this morning and being able to hunt for breakfast (ie. walk along the streets hoping to find a food stall with something eatable, perhaps even delish. Sophia will write more about this later) in shorts and little else, felt, well, unbelievable. We thought we'd never escape the cold, since it hasn't really gotten any warmer since Moscow, until now that is.
Later on it felt almost a bit too warm, sitting and sweating in the sun, reading a book (and being forced to pose with the businessmen walking around the pond in groups), in the park of the Sun and Moon pagoda, while Ruut and Sophia were hunting for lunch, water and shade.
It didn't get any cooler climbing up all the stairs that were mentioned earlier, to the Solitary Beauty Peak (entrance fee 70 yuan, for that you don't only get to climb mentioned Peak, but also see the replica of what used to be the home of a prince, the Peace Cave, and a lot of Uni students playing hoops). But it was definitely worth the climb, as we got a good view of the city, and the beautiful mountains surrounding it.
So far we like this city, and we especially like our hostel.
A bit far from the 'food street' (that we adore, of course. More of this later on, as said...) but right by the Main Road, and only a walking distance from the train station, our Xiao Yang Lou IY hostel has proven out to be worth every 2 euros and 27 cents we pay per night/person. It's extreemly new and clean, definitely fresher than any place we've stayed in so far. So if you like it clean, this is the place for you. Oh, and did I mention our beds are about two metres wide and our quilts made in heaven? However it sorta lacks character in all its steralized whiteness(especially compared to our last hostel, Pathfinder in Wuhan), but in a way that's a nice contrast to the city, in all it's colourfullnes and sounds and smells.
Ever since the train ride Ruut described, we're a tad sensitive when it comes to the smells... but hopefully that'll pass.
Oh well, off to brush my teeth and check if our laundry is done. Have to let Sophia write a very important blog post about the thing we love most when traveling: the food.
//H
ps. Since blogspot is off limits in China, we can not see our blog nor reply to your comments (luckily we see your comments though, and are able to blog, once again thanks to Ninjacloak) so I'll just have to reply here, for now. Varsogod Mona! Nice to hear that you liked it, wanna give me your e-mail or sum, so I don't have to reply here in the future? We love getting comments from you, abogal! Hugs!
Wuhan-Guilin (The Train Ride of Horrors) - Day 26
As we had bought hard-sleeper tickets for our 10 hour train ride to Guilin,I suppose our pampered minds were set on something similar to what we experienced on the train from Shanghai to Wuhan (Clean, half-empty, nicely quiet, helpful staff. Just extremely comfortable.)...
However, when we finally hauled our backpacks and our tired selves onboard the (alreday delayed) train we were greeted by a peculiar and vomit-inducing combination of smells, which slapped our faces like a wet glove; tobacco, sweat, pee and strange foods made for a harsh reality check.
The original departure station being Beijing, the Chinese on the train had already made themselves extremely comfortable: Phlegm was flying from every direction, food scraps were thrown carelessly on the floor, little babies (aided by their tired mothers) peeing in corners and garbage cans, snoring men scratching their butts in their sleep and people getting sick in the toilet.
The sheets in our upper berths were soiled with strange dark flecks and greasy stains. The loudspeakers as well as our fellow travellers were blaring out their incomprehensible language at noise-levels far exceeding the acceptable. The floor was sticky and damp.
Having a flu and already harboring a slight feeling of malaise, I literally thought I would not survive the day (aka the 10 hours that turned out to be a good 12 hours...). To make matters worse I burnt my finger on the leaking hot water tap. At that point I would not have been very suscpetible to all the claims of travelling broadening one's views and blah blah.
Somehow we still got through the ordeal of getting from point A to point B without developing a trauma, too terrible to cope with.
We blocked the loudspeakers with pillows and quilts, held ourselves to the very last minute in order to minimize familiarization with the train's lavatories, listened to our own music, comfort ate cookies and tried to read our books.
Curling up in fetus position and putting on a blindfold, were things that helped me get through the long grueling hours of that memorable train ride. As much as I would like to forget all about it, I can't deny that it was yet another instructive experience, albeit not a nice one.
I guess we'll all be able to laugh about it one day. Someday.
//R
However, when we finally hauled our backpacks and our tired selves onboard the (alreday delayed) train we were greeted by a peculiar and vomit-inducing combination of smells, which slapped our faces like a wet glove; tobacco, sweat, pee and strange foods made for a harsh reality check.
The original departure station being Beijing, the Chinese on the train had already made themselves extremely comfortable: Phlegm was flying from every direction, food scraps were thrown carelessly on the floor, little babies (aided by their tired mothers) peeing in corners and garbage cans, snoring men scratching their butts in their sleep and people getting sick in the toilet.
The sheets in our upper berths were soiled with strange dark flecks and greasy stains. The loudspeakers as well as our fellow travellers were blaring out their incomprehensible language at noise-levels far exceeding the acceptable. The floor was sticky and damp.
Having a flu and already harboring a slight feeling of malaise, I literally thought I would not survive the day (aka the 10 hours that turned out to be a good 12 hours...). To make matters worse I burnt my finger on the leaking hot water tap. At that point I would not have been very suscpetible to all the claims of travelling broadening one's views and blah blah.
Somehow we still got through the ordeal of getting from point A to point B without developing a trauma, too terrible to cope with.
We blocked the loudspeakers with pillows and quilts, held ourselves to the very last minute in order to minimize familiarization with the train's lavatories, listened to our own music, comfort ate cookies and tried to read our books.
Curling up in fetus position and putting on a blindfold, were things that helped me get through the long grueling hours of that memorable train ride. As much as I would like to forget all about it, I can't deny that it was yet another instructive experience, albeit not a nice one.
I guess we'll all be able to laugh about it one day. Someday.
//R
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