Thursday, 5th May
I got the train without any problem. I had a 'hard' seat and had been a little worried about luggage space but we were sitting in the sleeper compartments so there was loads of space, The empty bunks were used for luggage. I opted to sit on the seat in the aisle, so I could look out of the window, this was not a good idea, fortunately it was just a short trip, because once the standing people got on they commandeered every free seat and mine was taken, if I had needed to get up I would have lost my aisle seat. A lesson for future day journeys. Somehow I was one of the first off the train and onto the bus, so I got a seat. There were 2 Chinese looking ladies who spoke excellent English, they had asked me for guidance on the seat numbers on the train! Surprisingly enough I'd been able to help them, so on the bus they checked with the driver to make sure I got off at the right place. I don't know where they were from because they spoke fluent Mandarin as well.
The hostel, The Lily Pad, was lovely and very quiet. I had opted for a single room, at 45 yuan (£4.50) it was a bargain.
The bathroom was something special as well.
I had lunch here when I arrived, which was very good, there was a good choice on the menu. There was a lovely sitting room with a TV and DVD's and a computer and internet access.
Outside sitting area.
The outside of the hostel. The houses here are very different from Lijiang with these lovely painted friezes.
The hostel was outside the old town, but only just. I had to cross the highway to Tibet, the picture below shows just what a rush there is to go to Tibet!
One of the gates into the old town.
I wondered around the old town first.
Screens made from cut stone.
A street!
Different ways of carrying your shopping.
I was intrigued by these plants for sale.
Traditional embroidery for sale.Childrens regional costumes.
Batik.
A rather blurred picture of a girl weaving.
I think this is the original city wall, visible through the trees.
Before and after! There was a whole street of stone-masons, some of them could be seen working.
After I wondered around the town I decided to walk down to the lake, I walked a little over half way, then gave up and walked back, then saw a bus stop and got the bus down. According to the bus the temperature was 31 degrees C, it certainly felt warm and I had forgotten to take a bottle of water with me. The bus fare was 1 yuan (10p) so that was a bargain as well.
On the road down to the lake farmers were spreading something on the road, presumably to dry, they didn't seem to mind traffic driving over it.
I saw many women wearing regional dress, it was different to Lijiang as well. I saw a group of ladies sitting having lunch in a garden, I thought they must have been part of a tourist promotion, but when I came back they were digging out the foundations of a new house and carting the soil up to a lorry further up the road, all in pretty red clothes.
Friday
Up early to get to the station for 08.18. The bus journey from the station had taken nearly an hour, and as you have to go through a security check, and they don't let you on in the last 5 minutes, I wanted to allow myself plenty of time, but I had forgotten to clear this with the owner! I had got used to hostels being up and running at 7 a.m. so at quarter to I was at the front gate, only to find it locked. I stood around for a while expecting movement, but nothing happened, then I rang a bell by the gate but I think the batteries had died, still nothing happened. I started to get desperate, then I saw a card stuck to the gate, with contact details for the owner. I didn't have a mobile with me but I remembered the phone in the reception area, which was unlocked, so I went and rang Erin's mobile. By the time she came down I was pretty worried, I rushed for the bus, narrowly missing one, then caught the next. I thought 7 a.m. would be quiet on the roads but it's rush hour in China! The driver seemed to drive through Dali at walking speed and there were loads of people at every bus stop. I got to the train station at 08.05. It is the only train station I saw where there was nothing written in English. I walked towards the doors I had come out of but they were closed, with no sign of life, then I saw people walking up a ramp to an upper floor so I followed them. I managed to get to the train with about 10 minutes to spare. It was a 7 hour journey, 'hard' seat but sitting on 'hard' sleepers again, so there was plenty of room. This time I stayed on my seat, which was next to the window any way, though the train was not full and there was no-one standing. It got very hot as the day went on, I think there was air conditioning but it was not very efficient. We had a couple of long stops, when everything else passes, even freight trains. I saw freight trains with 40+ carriages! The toilets are locked during stops, on this occasion there had been a short stop just before I decided to go but the doors were not re-opened, it was a very long wait!
A village seen from the train.
I saw a lot of these, I think either a cemetery or shrines to commemorate the dead.
I had promised myself to prepare for journeys, with food and drink, but on this occasion I didn't do it very well. I arrived in Kunming hungry and exhausted. I walked around looking for a McD or KFC but couldn't find either. The alternative seemed to be to buy food and eat on the hoof, but I desperately wanted to sit down, eventually I found a Dico's, China's answer to McD. I had chicken pieces in Cumin, and chips, highly nutritious! Then I went on a hunt for some nibbles, they do some nice little crisp/snack/biscuit things that I like, usually they are easy to find but I walked around dozens of shops and couldn't find any, then I found them in the station shop!
Then I went to the waiting room, I arrived very early, I wasn't sure if there was some kind of earliest time you could be there but they let me in. The 'soft-seat' waiting room, with lovely comfy chairs, I looked like 'bag woman' as I had been acquiring things on the way. Railway staff kept coming to check my ticket to make sure I was in the right place. I had tea, a constant supply of hot water and a nice comfy seat. The journey from Kunming to Guilin was the longest I did, 19.30 to 13.00, so I felt it needed the 'soft' sleeper. I shared the compartment with a Chinese woman with BO and 2 Chinese men, who talked non-stop. Though they did stop to go to sleep. Each journey I have had my ticket taken from me and I have been issued with a plastic card, as the card is totally in Chinese I have no idea why. The cards are issued to the people on the bottom bunk, regardless of nationality.
Saturday
The 2 men got off at Nanning, before Nanning the countryside was very different, miles of banana plantations and very much a hot humid feel, even inside the train.
A village somewhere.
A very blurred picture but I tried very hard to get a photo of oxen working the fields, we always went past very fast or I didn't get my camera ready in time!After Nanning the land remained very red, sand-stoney, but the predominate crop was rice. There were lots of people working in the fields and oxen used for ploughing, even though it was early morning. Then there were lots of hills, they looked like volcanic plugs but I understand this is a 'karst' landscape. Limestone worked by the weather.
The woman insisted on keeping the compartment door shut, I like to be able to see the view each side, but she got off before me and after that I could keep the door open.
When I got to Guilin I booked my onward ticket to Guangzhou, I had the most helpful ticket clerk I met anywhere. She spoke little to no English but was happy to giggle her way through. When I left the station I was collared by someone asking if I was going to Yangshuo, I had understood that I would need to get to the bus station, on the other side of town, and I was going to get a taxi, so I accepted this offer of a bus, he charged me 30 yuan and took it off me. I know this was more than anyone else paid and for a little while I wondered if he was just going to pocket my money and disappear but he didn't. The bus filled up along the way, the conductor seemed to use the same high pressures selling techniques on everyone, we waited at each stop until he was sure he could not persuade someone else that they wanted to go to Yangshuo. When we got to Yangshuo the bus did not go to the bus station but I was told to get off at the edge of town. There was nothing written in English or Pingyin and I could not find out where I was in relation to the map I had. I had a silly little diagrammatic map, done for tourists but singularly unhelpful. There is no point providing poor tourists with maps in English that say 'East Street' or 'Peach Blossom Mountain' if the road signs are going to say 'Dong Dajie' or God knows what, it isn't even possible to ask for directions with English language maps. I was offered lifts by hopeful taxi drivers, or any driver, but as I had no idea where I was, or where I was going, I had to turn them down and just walk. Eventually I kind of found the right spot, then I found a 'Tourist Information Office' that declared, in large letters 'Free Information'. I went in and pointed to the sign and said: 'Free information?' The reply was: 'No!' so I made to go out then I thought better of it, I showed him my map and the name of the hostel, it appeared I was just a few feet from the road I wanted, so he signed me around the corner and I found the hostel.
The hostel was OK. It had internet but no food. I booked a raft excursion for the next day and wondered off to the tourist area to find food. The weather was very hot and sticky but the town seemed interesting.
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