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Published: August 23rd 2006
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a day that turned out to be for sight seeing. my actual plan was to stay this day in datong and maybe visit some sights here. of course my plan changed. arriving by train i was planning to go directly to CITS (china international travel service) since i heard that datong is one of the places where thay could help. the first woman that asked me if i needed accomaodation really gave up when i told her that i'm heading for CITS. but already at the second guy i got weak. he told me that CITS will open at 8. i know, i should have had a look anyway but instead i asked how much it would cost if i stayed at the place he was proposing. he said, he had rooms for 60 or 120 RMB. well, 60 didn't sound to bad, so i went with him. it was really just around the corner. he showed me a double with bath and said it would cost 120 RMB. i told hom i wouldn't need a bath. he started thinking and said he just has rooms with bath so i told him that i would go to CITS and ask them.
he took me to another place, we woke up the receptionist guy and got a key. the room was large wit a double room, not tidied up and a little bit shabby. thus, i took it. he told me that somebody would come at nine to clean it.
then he started proposing me to go to the yunyang caves and to hanging monastery. i was tempted. it would cost as much as the lonely plante said it would cost when going with CITS. finally i agreed and we made an appointment for 8 o'clock. i had one and a half hour left.
i went back to the train station to buy a ticket for the overnext day to tianjin. when i came there, i couldn't find the train i had picked out the last time i looked it up at the internet and there were crowds everywhere. i gave up immediately and went to CITS. there was really a guy who spoke english very well and they could arrange the ticket i needed. they also wanted to talk me into some other tour but i told them that i already an agreement. then they wanted to sell me accomodation at
wutai shan for 80 on which i replied that i will try to get some thing cheaper. he said he doesn't believe i could get it cheaper. ha! i would like to tell him now what i finally got.
then i went back to my room to have breakfast. when i was in front of the hotel at the time we made the appointment nobody was there. i waited 10 minutes. still nobody. he appeared afte another 10 minutes to tell me that there were some other guys who wanted to go to some other place instead of the yunyang caves. i told him that that's nice but i wanna go to the yunyang caves. he became worried and when he finally told me to go to CITS a cab driver came and they started talking. this cab driver agreed with bringing me alone to yunyang caves and the hanging monastery (which is actually called suspending nonastery in chinglish).
both sights were very impressing. the yunyang caves are all in all 45 caves, some just big enough to put your head in some about 15 m high and all with beautiful satues and sculptures. it looks religious but as soon
as you turn your head around or open your ears you see and hear crowds of chinese tourists which blasts away all the spirituasllity immediately. same for the hanging monastery. very nice but you're unable to go through in your own tempo, you have to wait until the crowds push you through and unconsciously you're starting to ask yourself if the whole hanging thing will slide down the wall as ling as you're up there or if it will be another time.
coming back to my room i was hungry. i took a cab to a place recommended in the lonely planet with english menu this time and had a decent meal. on my way back i stopped in an internet bar and spent most of the evening there. i walked home and got lost somehow. i ended up in a muddy street with no lights at all, just some passing cars would either make me blind completely or bright up my path depending on if they came from behind me or came towards me. it was a strange feeling, walking in a city i didn't know in a country i even knew less and i started to feel scared.
finally i didn't dare to continue and turned around. i found the place where i had gone wrong and of course it was pretty obvious.
glad to arrive, i found out that my room was clean this time but still the light didn't work. but just a few moments after i entered a woman came who knew that the light didn't work and called for a guy to repair it. this guy was very delighted by my "xie xie" (thank you).
just for all of you who didn't read it already in the last entry. i've got anew number here, it's: +86 13593021985
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