4.09.09
A day of buses and trains is the main fare for today. We jump on our Hangzhou bound bus at 7.50am to catch our afternoon train to Zhangjiajie. At the train station it's the standard routine of everyone getting up and ready to rush the gates as soon as they open and then onto the platform like some kind of riot. We already have sleeper berths reserved, so don't really need to jump in with the Chaos, but it's fun to do, so we get stuck in anyway!
Once on the train I try and persist with some Mandarin learning on my MP3 player and then have my dinner consisting of the Chinese version of a pot noodle, customised by adding some sausage and fresh tomatoes. I think we have hit a carriage with a Chinese tour group as everyone is chatting to each other, playing games and eating together, like some kind of Chinese social club. It's fun to watch although we have to do it from our top bunks which probably have about 2 feet of room between the bed and the roof. The saving grace being that up high you are right next to the air conditioning, and on a hot train that's a god send.
Showing posts with label Bus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bus. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Friday, 4 September 2009
Day 41 - Shanghai, Huang Shan
1.09.09
The 17.10 bus to Huang Shan has our name on it, but before we leave the cosmopolitan metropolis of Shanghai, we go and meet Sam for some lunch at his office block over looking the western side of Shanghai. It's supposed to be pork ribs, but is definitely breaded chicken or something like that, none the less it tastes great and it's nice to have a real meal. Sam's working for a company who send Chinese students from wealthy families overseas to the UK and America to study in boarding schools or Universities. They arrange the transport, fees
and all the complications and also help the students with English lessons so they can pass the entrance exams. It's an interesting concept and is a testament to how fast China is evolving and the amount of Chinese who have cashed in on it's development, especially when you consider the fees alone for the schools they deal with start at over £6,000 a year and you can eat a good meal in China for 50p.
We depart Sam and jump on our west bound bus for Huang Shan City (a.k.a. Tunxi), which has all of around 10 people including the driver conductor and us. It pulls into some where in Huang Shan at about 11.30 and we take the safe option and take a taxi to our hostel, which appears to be a massive complex and Juste shares her 6 person dorm with no one, while I have three people. The guy at reception tells us he will help us get our onward train tickets and also point us in the way of getting to the Huizhou villages tomorrow if we meet him when his shift ends at 7am. An aggressive start to the day tomorrow then.
The 17.10 bus to Huang Shan has our name on it, but before we leave the cosmopolitan metropolis of Shanghai, we go and meet Sam for some lunch at his office block over looking the western side of Shanghai. It's supposed to be pork ribs, but is definitely breaded chicken or something like that, none the less it tastes great and it's nice to have a real meal. Sam's working for a company who send Chinese students from wealthy families overseas to the UK and America to study in boarding schools or Universities. They arrange the transport, fees
and all the complications and also help the students with English lessons so they can pass the entrance exams. It's an interesting concept and is a testament to how fast China is evolving and the amount of Chinese who have cashed in on it's development, especially when you consider the fees alone for the schools they deal with start at over £6,000 a year and you can eat a good meal in China for 50p.
We depart Sam and jump on our west bound bus for Huang Shan City (a.k.a. Tunxi), which has all of around 10 people including the driver conductor and us. It pulls into some where in Huang Shan at about 11.30 and we take the safe option and take a taxi to our hostel, which appears to be a massive complex and Juste shares her 6 person dorm with no one, while I have three people. The guy at reception tells us he will help us get our onward train tickets and also point us in the way of getting to the Huizhou villages tomorrow if we meet him when his shift ends at 7am. An aggressive start to the day tomorrow then.
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Day 30 - Datong
21.08.09
The Yungang Caves is today's task and it all starts off with a round trip on the bus much like my first Vladivostock adventure. Apparently the bus everyone told me to catch isn't running for some reason, so I have to catch a number 4 and then change for 3-1. I obviously have no idea where to get off and change, but charge on into the journey blind. 45 mins later and I'm back at the train station and asking people again, all of whom tell me to jump on the 4 and change onto the 3-1. The second time round I stand right next to the driver and bother him every few minutes so he doesn't forget me. He eventually tells me where to get off and change to jump on the 3-1 and I end up arriving at the entrance to the caves at about midday.
The Yungang caves are a series of Buddhist caves carved straight out of the cliff face and when you see a 17m high Buddha statue sitting in a cave that's all be carved out of the cliff face over 1500 years ago, it's phenomenal. In contrast I also take a more extensive walk around Datong when I get back and come to the conclusion that it's a bit of a rough city. I jump on my hard sleeper at night and totally paranoid that I will my miss my stop at 6am I wake up ritually every 20 minutes and freak out. Although there was no need as the attendant wakes you up when you get to your stop anyway.
The Yungang Caves is today's task and it all starts off with a round trip on the bus much like my first Vladivostock adventure. Apparently the bus everyone told me to catch isn't running for some reason, so I have to catch a number 4 and then change for 3-1. I obviously have no idea where to get off and change, but charge on into the journey blind. 45 mins later and I'm back at the train station and asking people again, all of whom tell me to jump on the 4 and change onto the 3-1. The second time round I stand right next to the driver and bother him every few minutes so he doesn't forget me. He eventually tells me where to get off and change to jump on the 3-1 and I end up arriving at the entrance to the caves at about midday.
The Yungang caves are a series of Buddhist caves carved straight out of the cliff face and when you see a 17m high Buddha statue sitting in a cave that's all be carved out of the cliff face over 1500 years ago, it's phenomenal. In contrast I also take a more extensive walk around Datong when I get back and come to the conclusion that it's a bit of a rough city. I jump on my hard sleeper at night and totally paranoid that I will my miss my stop at 6am I wake up ritually every 20 minutes and freak out. Although there was no need as the attendant wakes you up when you get to your stop anyway.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Day 18 - Vladivostok
9.08.09
My journey into China is on the cards today. I get in at about 8am to the train station in Vladivostok and decide to try and walk it to the Bus station as it's not that far, after about 10mins I realise I don't have an accurate enough map and I can't read Russian, so jump on a bus.
After asking the driver whether he goes to the bus station I sit down and wait to see this big bustling bus station. An hour later and the bus pulls into a depot, I ask the driver if this is the bus station and he looks at me as if I'm an idiot. Luckily he puts me on another bus and tells the driver to tell me when we get to the station and doesn't charge me a fare. When we get to the station it's hidden behind a market and I would never have spotted it if I wasn't told.
I fail to notice, but it's a Sunday and so the bus service is limited so I have to buy a ticket that leaves at 8.10 tomorrow morning.
After checking into a hotel for the evening I grab some food from the super market and for the first time on the trip feel very very very lonely. I'm on the same longitudinal line as central Australia and it's the furthest I've ever been from home and I am totally alone. I think a combination between lack of sleep and the day not going as planned is making me quite down, but after a nap I feel a lot better and then hit the sack to wake up for my early bus tomorrow.
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