Taking it easy at the West Lake (Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China)

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(Day 136 on the road)From Huang Shan, we had wanted to go to Suzhou to have a look at the canals and gardens the city is famous for. However, we were unable to get any train tickets until the next day, so went to the bus station isnstead to catch a bus. The only buses leaving from Huang Shan however were to Shanghai and Hangzhou. At the station we were greeted by three lovely middle-aged female ticket touts, who were extremely excited to make business with us - I guess they were pocketing a hefty commission on the sale of the tickets, but we for once didn't mind to much as they were really friendly and we had a good laugh with them. The bus to Shanghai was booked out, but we only found out though after the women had grabbed half of our luggage and made us sprint to the pick-up point of the bus some way up the road in the scorching afternoon heat. The bus to Hangzhou however had two seats left, and before we know it they had loaded our backpacks and us onto their little scooters, and off we went halfway across town to catch the bus. It was pretty cool cruising through Huang Shan City on the back of these scooters, feeling the cooling wind in our faces!

Arriving in Hangzhou, I felt the exhaustion of the continuous travels and the frequent early morning get-ups of past few weeks head-on. I was weak and had a terrible head-ache; I basically spent the next two days in bed resting and catching up on sleep. As I had been to Hangzhou a few years ago and had already experienced the beautiful West Lake, I luckily did not miss too much. The few things I did see however showed the city as an utterly modern and rich place, with the streets next to the lake lined with Porsche and Ferrari car dealers, expensive foreign restaurants and funky night clubs.

Having recovered somewhat after a few days, I left on an overnight train to Beijing, ready to experience the Olympics firsthand!　Karen and I also parted again here in Hangzhou, as I will be heading to Japan in a week's time, while Karen will be heading towards Vietnam. And if you are interested in readind Karen's account of our travels in China, have a look at her blog.

Next stop: Beijing (China).



To view my photos, have a look at pictures.beiske.com. And to read the full account of my journey, have a look at the complete book about my trip at Amazon (and most other online book shops).

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