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Published: September 24th 2006
Well it’s once again time to pack up our stuff and head off into the great wide open. Tomorrow morning we take a train from Beijing to Datong, approximately a 6 hour train ride. We don’t have a hostel booked yet, because we were unable to find any on the internet, but Lonely Planet lists a bunch of budget options and there is a CITS (Chinese International Travel Service I think?) office at the station which arranges accommodations. We were able to purchase our tickets without too much trouble. We wandered around the large ticket hall for quite some time, staring up at the massive board listing various routes (all in Chinese) before a kind gentleman approached us and asked if we needed some help. We told him we wished to travel to Datong on Monday (this was yesterday, Saturday) and he watched the board to see what the train number was. Once we knew that he stood with us in line and spoke to the ticket agent, told us how much money to hand over, and explained what car and seats we had been assigned. We were expecting to pay 70 Yuan each (that is what our guide listed it as) and we watched another traveler attempt to purchase tickets at this window but he was pointed in another direction (probably the foreigners lounge which we tried to find but could not). Our tickets only came to 62 Yuan for both so I wonder if we got a deal for purchasing at the “locals” window. We thanked the man profusely and parted ways. All this communicating has sharpened our “travelers English” skills, meaning broken easy to understand English! We hope it won’t become a habit by the time we get back home!
In the afternoon we headed off to a Silk Market to scope out some wares, but quickly left when we realized how high the prices were. An item which we bargained for at the Great Wall and bought for 10 Yuan started out at 450 Yuan here!! The girl came down to 180 Yuan, we told her no we will pay 10, and she laughed at us, said we were joking, and went to help another customer. Unfortunately the amount of travelers willing to throw money around like it’s nothing has caused the prices to go through the roof at this market. Today we caught a bus back to the Great Wall simply to pick up some more cheap souvenirs, and we walked away with 10 times the stuff for almost the same price as one in the market in Beijing (including the bus price!). Also the wonderful woman at the stall where we purchased many things pinned a gold butterfly pin onto my collar and told me “no price for you, gift!”. I don’t think it’s often that you receive “gifts” from anyone for free in this country, so I was thrilled with the gesture. Sure it may only be a 5 cent trinket but it represents a friendship I’d like to think I made here. Definitely one of my most prized treasures so far!
Saturday evening was spent getting lost in the hutong (see previous entry for a short description on what the hutong is). It was truly a charming experience, seeing the ramshackle dwellings and wandering among the real Beijingers. We received many stares!! I called hello to anyone who looked interested in us, which resulted in crinkling faces smiling and laughing back. This was probably one of my most favorite experiences so far. Located throughout the hutong are many public washrooms because the ancient homes do not have private toilets. Dev needed to use one and he reported back that the squatters were only separated by very low walls, so I’m glad I didn’t need to use the facilities. I’m still a bit nervous about attracting an audience, watching the Westerner attempt to squat!! We also found a small market type aisle where many people were shopping for dinner. Such a change from most marketplaces, not one person called out to us or haggled us to buy anything!
We are looking forward to Datong where the main attraction is the Yungang Caves which house more than 50 000 Buddhist statues! (no that’s not a typo, really 50 000!) There are also supposed to be remains of the Great Wall here that are completely untouched and crumbling, in the middle of a field.
Also, we found a fabulous Foreign Language bookstore and stocked up on some Lonely Planet guides for the upcoming countries we will be visiting, as well as a Mandarin and SE Asia phrasebook. A few good novels were also purchased to help pass time on the many long train rides that are upcoming (6hr to Datong, 7-8hr to Taiyuan, 12hr to Xi’an and 18hr to Chengdu!).
We love reading your comments and receiving your messages so please keep them coming! It’s hard to believe we’ve been gone for less than a month, it seems like we’ve been in this strange new world for quite some time. We are learning a lot about ourselves and each other and how to overcome difficulties. Certainly invaluable experience. We are already planning our return to much of Japan, as well as Beijing (2008 Olympics anyone?!). It will be very neat to watch the Olympics and know we were here while they were preparing. For you Amazing Race fans I hear that on the premiere they went to the Forbidden City! I would have loved to see that, it’s too bad we don’t get ANY English tv here at all. We’ve tried watching some Chinese shows but they aren’t near as hilarious as Japanese tv and get old rather quickly.
Still missing you all, I dream rather vividly almost every night about people and places and things back home and in my dreams I’m always back home for a quick trip before flying back to China to continue the journey. I guess that is my brains way of transporting me there for a brief time to quench the homesickness I’m feeling!
I believe our itinerary has us in India during Christmas, so if any of you wish to take a trip far East for Christmas break please let us know and we can plan to meet up!!
Sending our love!!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
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Aunt Lorraine
non-member comment
Hello from Winnipeg!
Erin and Devlin, I can't tell you how much we're enjoying your travel blog. It's as if we're right there with you, and loving it! You're braver than I am, I can tell you!! The photos you are including are great! We are all (everyone here) looking forward to the next legs of your adventure. Take care, and know that you are in the thoughts of many back here in Canada.