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Published: April 13th 2007
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I picked up my final batch of tickets at the travel agency this morning and headed to the train station by taxi to catch the train to Hangzhou that left at 9.40. I was looking forward to my first train trip, even though the agent had not been able to secure soft seating for me. Here they have hard seat, soft seat, and soft sleeper arrangements.
I was very proud to find the right platform and sat there, relaxed, as I had plenty of time. Good thing I looked up at the sign after a few minutes of relaxation to find that the platform had changed and was already boarding! I ran around the corner and negotiated the steps down to the platform, stopping once along the way to be sure I was headed to the right carriage. When I arrived, at least a zillion people were ahead of me and already in the carriage. I was pushed/pulled (relatively gently, I must say) into the carriage and tried to find an empty space to just look for my seat, #4. When I saw it was full, I mean it was FULL. I have a small roll-on bag (carry-on size)
and it was too wide to roll between the people standing in the aisle. Finally I found a bit of breathing space and looked to find that my seat was back where I got on . . . at least 10 rows and 60 people away. I was the only Westerner in the carriage and most people were amused at my plight, but nicely so. Almost everyone in China is friendly. After pushing my way back to my seat, the person sitting in it immediately got up. Of course by this time there was no storage space, but no problem, I held one bag in my lap and the other sat under the table.
The countryside reminded me of Holland a bit in the beginning; flat with lots of agriculture. There were miles and miles of something growing under white canopies. The area seemed pretty swampy as well, also with streams separating planting areas like in The Netherlands. I loved the guy who came by about every 30 minutes shouting la-la-la-la-la, which I guess means get out of the way I'm coming with the drink and snack cart. There were people who stood the entire way to Hangzhou, about
2 1/2 hours, because there were no seats.
On arrival I faced quite a number of stairs down, then up, then down again. Thank God for rolling bags! Caught a taxi (paid too much, although much less than they wanted at first) and arrived at this great hotel (the only place I could find on short notice as this is a hot Chinese tourist spot). It's a business hotel, a joint Japanese/Chinese venture. Great view of the lake. Robe and slippers. Internet access. Marble bath. Flat screen TV. Need I say more? I must admit I like the luxury at bargain-basement rates.
After checking in, I decided to check out West Lake, described as a Heaven on Earth (or some such thing) by Marco Polo. It is beautiful, but unfortunately it was quite hazy today so that I could barely see the hills on the other side. I sat on a bench by the lake, munching on pistachios and drinking my new favorite drink, iced green tea, when Danielle sat down and began a conversation with me. Danielle is a young Chinese woman who works in a tech support center in Hangzhou. She studied IT and English and
was keen to speak English. And really good English, too! We talked about Holland, China, jobs, travel. One of the great things about traveling alone is that you (I, anyway) tend to meet more people.
Came back to the hotel, tired. Very tired. Rested a while. Thought about going out for dinner and checking out the night scene. Thought about all the blogging that I wanted to do. Decided I wanted to ride a bike around the lake tomorrow and came to the conclusion that you can't do everything (even before I got your comment, Margo!). So, I made a monumental decision. Stay at the hotel tonight, blog, get room service and a good night's sleep.
Do you sense another food story coming up? If so, you're right! Room service consisting of delectable Shredded pork and white gourd soup, Yangzhou-style fried rice, Sauteed cabbage mustard with preserved pork and chinese yam, Canton-style pineapple bun, and local beer. Really, really good food. All for the paltry sum of about 6 euro. No kidding. Room service!
By the way, speaking of preserved pork, which I had no idea about . . . it's the Chinese country ham (proscuitto, jamon)!
Luxury
My great room at the Friendship Hotel. Also one of my faves.
So here I am at the end of another great day in China. I've got the webcam on waiting for my mom to sign in. Tomorrow, I hope to ride around the lake before hopping on the train to Beijing. I'll probably have to play catch up on Sunday as I won't have access until then.
China is a wonderful place . . . but there's no place like home (heels clicking together).
Tot zondag!
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alex
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hi diva, you're a great writer - love reading your journals. pics are abfab. i am glad to know you are enjoying yourself so much - knowing you i knew you would; like you say: "i'm not shy, i'm american" ;-). love, alex. peter sends his love to you too.