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Published: August 6th 2011
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Dijous, 4 d’Agost – l’ultim dia a Beijing
Aquest mati hem aprofitat per a comprar 4 cosetes a les botiguetes del Hutong on estem allotjats. Hi ha realment botigues boniques amb coses molt interessants I hem comprat un parell de coses. Despres d’un bon dinar hem agafat un taxi a l’estacio de l’oest de Beijing, que jo em pensava que seria mes tranquil.la que la central, I en absolut. Basicament l’estacio te 15 sales amb acces a via I cada sala es igual de gran que l’estacio de Lleida, com a tot arreu, hi ha una gentada increible fins I tot on no hi sembla haver cap tren!
Hem pujat al tren T5 direccio Nanning in Dong Chen I hem sortit a les 3.45 PM. Afortunadament, hem tingut el compartiment per a nosaltres sols de nou! La tarda al tren ha estat un pel avorrida ja que el paisatje no era gaire bonic, hi havia molta boirina (tradicional a la Xina) I hi ha molts arbres plantats al costat de la via.
Thursday, 4th August – Rambling around the Hutongs
When we left our hostel in Beijing, we left with much more than we came
with, thanks to the superb shopping around the hutongs (traditional narrow Chinese streets). It was difficult to drag ourselves away to catch the train and what a different world we encountered at Beijing West Train Station. It was gargantuan! The station itself looked like a prison from the outside, and it wasn’t dissimilar inside either. The place was packed, filthy and chaotic. I think the hour or so we waited in the station was the best hour’s introduction to Chinese culture that we could have had. It was fascinating, but we were very grateful to get on the train.
We were one of two western couples on the whole train so we really got the Chinese experience.
Divendres, 5 d’Agost
Bona nit al tren, en general a la Xina el rodatge es bastant suau I nomes hi ha moviments bruscos quan el tren frena, ja que portem mes de 25 vagons. Durant el mati el paisatje ha millorat I hem tingut mes montanyes interessants. Despres d’un intent fracassat de dinar al restaurant del tren (hi ha gent que no enten I gent que no vol entendre, I aquest tren esta ple de xinesos o sigui que
ningu parla angles) hem continuant mirant per la finestra I mirant House.
Sabiem que durant aquesta nit haviem de canviar de tren (diferent ample de via de nou) I sabiem que el tren vietnamita sortia de la frontera cap a Hanoi a les 3.50 pero no sabiem a quina hora arribariem a Dong Deng (la frontera) per a fer els tramits. O sigui que a les 8 ens hem posat a intentar dormir el maxim. No obstant, a les 8.30 ens han despertat I tret del tren a una sala d’espera. Hem descobert que erem a Nanning, la ciutat mes important prop de la frontera. Hem esperat una estona on han desenganxat els vagons I han deixat 2 VAGONS! Que anaven a la frontera. Al tren anavem 5 persones! Hem intentat dormir un pel mes pero la inmigracio xinesa ha entrat I finalment hem arrivat a Dong Deng sobre les 3 del mati (hora Xinesa) 2 hora vietnamita. Hem fet els tramits I hem pogut entrar a nostre nou tren, un vago al final d’un tren de mercancies, en serio, pero hem pogut dormir fins a les 8 del mati que hem arrivat a Hanoi.
Friday, 5th
August
So, the Chinese experience began when we awoke to people smoking in the corridors with the attendants doing nothing about it. Secondly, I learned to take extra loo roll with me to the toilet, because the seat was always wet and finally we learned that the waiters in Chinese restaurant cars won’t even try with people who don’t speak Chinese. Thankfully there was a lady with a trolley of rice dishes doing the rounds who saved us from starvation. Another plus to combat the culture clash was that we had the compartment to ourselves, so at least we had a little haven amidst the madness.
At around 9.30, we stopped in Nanning and had to wait in the station for a while before we could board the train. That was a very bizarre experience. Everybody left the train except us and the other western couple (I think they were Dutch). We were then escorted to the waiting room and had no idea why we were waiting or how long for. Eventually we were escorted back to the train (which had lost all but two carriages and was on a different platform. On the way we walked through a
tunnel full of people going in the opposite direction and felt like the new acquisitions at the zoo. But eventually we were back on the train (with only about 6 passengers) and we were making our way to the border.
Dissabte, 6 d’Agost – arribem a “casa”
A l’arribar a Hanoi, en tren pasa com una serp per dins de la ciutat, la via esta entre les cases, literalment a 1 metre de les parets de les cases per cada costat, pots veure la seva vida, es increible! Hem pogut treure diners I agafar els bitllets cap al sud que teniem reservats I hem anat cap a l’hotel.
Es curios que a l’arribar a Hanoi, on fa 5 anys ho vaig passar bastant malament amb el mal de queixals ara es com arribar a casa. Es el tercer cop que soc a la capital del Vietnam I cada cop m’agrada mes! El soroll, la vida, els lavabos impossibles, etc… m’encanta! Despres de donar un tomb I trobar el meu restaurant favorit de Hanoi I esmorzar algo he llegit els emails de la feina I he tingut males noticies referents a una companya a qui aprecio moltissim I que espero que estigui be. L’any que ve sera dur.
La resta del dia ens relaxarem en el hotel on som que esta de conya, I sortirem a donar un tomb despres. Les compres les farem al tornar de Halong Bay en 2 dies.
Saturday, 6th August – Hanoi!
After another change of trains at the border and another wait in a station, we managed to get some sleep and arrived to the chaos of Hanoi this morning. We checked into our beautiful hotel and have been doing some light shopping and heavy eating. It feels great to be back in a part of Asia that we understand, and even better, a part of the world that does good bread.
This afternoon we are going to do very little and catch up on missed sleep before going to Halong Bay tomorrow.
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