10.08.09
Today is the day of painful ordeals and it's right from the start.
I wake up slightly later than I wanted to as I snooze through some alarms but I still have over two hours to get my bus and it's about 30mins to the bus station. I wait for a bus to take me to the station, and wait, and wait, and wait. An hour and a half later and one turns up and I am bricking it as I might miss my bus. I get off the bus early so I can run the last bit as it will be faster (Vladivostok buses have a habit of just waiting at stops for 2-3 mins for any passengers that might just amble along to catch the bus).
When I get to the station I make it just in the nick of time but my bus isn't there, after several conflicting directions from staff and passers by and running around the stops like a mad man, a woman tells me to flag down a bus that is currently pulling out of the station. I run in it's path and stop it and the d
river looks confused at my tickets smiles and tells me to get on. It turns out the bus I was booked onto didn't even run, so I'm on another one that takes the same route.
After a bus change and border checks at the Russian and Chinese check points, both of which seem to be perplexed at why I am crossing the border when everyone else is a Chinese tourist going back home, we arrive in Sufenhie. The bus pulls into 'I haven't the slightest idea', I have no Chinese currency on me, don't speak enough Chinese to ask anything and thinking I would be at a major bus station, am in a metaphorical, deep pile of brown matter.
I roam around aimlessly for a while and then a woman says something to me in Chinese to which my blank looks get another question in Russian, eventually after communicating in a language that I have the absolute basics of and what isn't even her first language, she gets her friend to drive me to a bank in his car and then
to the bus station. He puts me on the bus to Harbin and I sit there feeling even more alone and stupid for not preparing better.
The bus doesn't leave for another two hours and people are washing the windows as it's still practically in the depot, but after the day so far and shear fear, I don't move a muscle. When it eventually leaves a five hour journey later and we arrive in the northern city of Harbin.
I get off and the bus driver who has looked after me on the journey asks where I am going and I show him on my guide book map, he points to a taxi but I decide to walk it, so I can get my bearings and see some of the city. I'm sure the map scale is wrong as it's about an hours walk and with at least 20kg on my back from various things I've picked up it seems like it's miles away.
When I reach my hotel it turns out to be about 20 pounds for two nights, the rooms have computers so I can get onto the internet for free and they are big and plush. I have a walk around Harbin at night and finally the day gets better and I feel a lot happier.
If there's anything I have learnt today it's that I should probably put a bit more preparation into things when I enter totally new territory. Also, that no matter what you pack and no matter how much you pack, the most invaluable thing is language and being able to communicate.
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