First, I want to thank everyone for their notes of encouragement -
unfortunately the access here is too slow for us to respond to everyone.
Keep in mind that we smile at your notes, and are thinking of you.
Speaking of access, we are in Xian now, and have found the best access yet.
It goes a hair faster than a snail, and hasn't been locking up as much as
the other places. As well, it is only $2.50 for an hour, so it is more just
our impatience that keeps us from sitting here longer.
So how did we get to Xian? Good story...
We left you off in Yangshuo, land of idyllic hills and friendly people.
Well from there we took a plane (yes, I got on a Chinese airplane!) and flew
from Guilin to Chongqing, about a one hour flight. As we had heard from
other tourists, all the old Russian planes are gone, replaced with Boeings
and Airbuses - we were on a 737. The service was great - they handed us an
English newspaper, as well as yummy tea and a fish jerky snack. The flight
was absolutely dreamy - not a bit of turbulence, and a very smooth landing.
It almost felt safer than flying in the US!
But here is where the story gets interesting. We take the shuttle from the
airport into town, with our intention to get a booking on a Yangzhee river
cruise. Well, low and behold, there are taxi drivers waiting where the bus
drops us off to take us to the booking office. So off we go, and are
dropped off in front of a lone office, despite the tour book describing many
independent offices around.
The guy tells us the price is 1368 Yuan (about $160) for a three day cruise
- our book tells us it shouldn't cost more than 800 Yuan. They kept
insisting they were the only office - things were looking a bit fishy. We
finally said we had no cash - no problem, they said - they would get us a
taxi to the Bank of China.
So off we go to the bank, with one of the boat salespeople in the car with
us. We arrive at the bank, only to find a pile of rubble where the lobby
used to be - no problem, they motion to us - so we walk around the rubble
pile to the waiting teller.
So we are still suspicious of these boat people, so while Eric is changing
the money, I strike up a conversation with a friendly Chinese man who
happens to teach English. He asks me if I know the boatman, and I say no -
he talks to the boat man, and nothing is really resolved. So we get back in
the taxi, and go back to the sales office.
By this time, Eric has found new energy. We decide we aren't going to deal
with these people, leave our luggage at the left luggage office there, and
strike out on our own. Low and behold, one kilometer down the street are
the independent salespeople the book had described, and within a 1/2 hour,
Eric and I booked the same boat ride for only 680 yuan each - even less than
the tour book said it would cost!
So the guy we buy the ticket from says that he will only take a deposit, and
if we like the boat then he will collect the rest of the money then. Wow,
customer service! So we go back and get our bags, and by the time we walk
back (in searing heat - at least 35C) it is time to walk down to the boat.
Now we knew we weren't getting on a luxury American tour boat - we knew we
would be on a boat with only Chinese people. But the pictures in the
brochure looked like it was pretty reasonable. Well...
Well the boat looked like the rest of China - a little bit run down, a
little bit rusted. He showed us to our room - two beds with private bath:
the top of the line - and it seems fine until we see a cockroach scurry
across the wall, with the guy standing right there. Eric starts to freak a
little - I am too hot and tired to go anywhere else. So we ask for a
different room (knowing full well they are everywhere, but at least we start
with one less) and pay the guy. He left, very quickly.
So Eric leaves the boat for a while (we have an hour or so before we leave)
and I am in the room getting us comfortable. So then as Eric sits in the
distance above the boats at dock, he sees what appears to be a freighter
which dwarfs our boat heading right for it. I look out my window and see it,
too. Eric now wonders if the boat as well as me are going to be lost! The
frieghter does hit the boat, but it appears that the boat was untied just in
time from the dock to let it take the brunt of the impact. Next the boat is
carried downstream for maybe 200 meters. Eric now wonders if he is being
left behind in the middle of China. Alas, the boat made its way back to the
dock, without me having known that we even went anywhere (though I
definitely felt the impact!).
So we would have been the only white people on the boat if it weren't for
two guys from Texas who made it on just before the boat left. They had been
travelling for 80 days already - started out in Europe and made their way
all across Russia - and had just gotten off a 60 hour train ride from
Mongolia. That made Eric and I feel like babies about the cockroach, so we
decided to toughen up a bit.
The cruise, was, well, OK. We felt hot and sticky the whole way (pretty
sure the shower water came right from the river which was all brown), and
the air conditioning seemed to work when the captian saw fit. As well, our
toilet didn't really flush, and the shower drain (actually you just shower
in the bathroom over the toilet, so a better description would be the
bathroom drain) would back up periodically. Oh, and I forgot about hearing
the click-click-click of rats feet scurrying through the space above our
ceiling...
But that aside, the Three Gorges were pretty neat - though I must say we get
spoiled living in California. A description is hard: it kind of felt like
we were going down a river in Colorado, with huge mountains on either side.
We were trying to decide how big the mountains are - our tour book didn't
say - the guys from Texas said they weren't much higher than 3000 ft above
the river - I think they were higher. We have some pictures through the
perpetual China haze, so you can decide.
But to get to the Gorges we had to bear a day before and a day after of
tedious travel down the river with nothing to do but some small stops at
cheesy tourists sites that were built simply because of all the tour boats
going by. I am sure the Luxury boats give you more to do than laundry and
reading - as well, with all the haze, I think the sights would be more
spectacular in the fall.
But wait - the story gets better. So the guys from Texas get off in Yichang
- we stay an extra day to get to Wuhan where there are more transportation
options. On the last day, Eric befriends a guy who speaks some Chinese. He
arranges for us to stay on the boat the night we arrive in Wuhan (because it
will be late, and it is cheap) and then will help us the next day to get to
the train station. This all seems fine, because despite the cockroach the
first day, we have only been finding about roach a day, so it seems like we
can deal with one more night. We are tough, no?
Big mistake.
It turns out they started to clean all the rooms of the people who got off
in Yichang, as well as the people who were getting off in Wuhan. So as we
settle into bed, we start seeing tons of cockroaches, apparently fleeing the
other rooms. As well, they have decided to turn off the air conditioning,
and with no breeze the room is sweltering. And then there is the fumes from
all the incoming boats as well as all their honking all night. We decide to
open the windows and set up our mosquito netting (which will also keep the
cockroaches at least at a distance), and try and get some sleep.
At around midnight, Eric turns on the light and sees four or so cockroaches
scurry away. He (so does Sue per Eric) starts freaking out - but the idea
of going out into the dark strange city is no less daunting. It took us
about a half an hour to realize that we are not going to get any sleep in
the room, so we quickly pack and get off the miserable boat.
And then miracles started to happen.
This guys shows up out of nowhere and asks if we need a cab. Suspicious, as
usual, we decide it can't be worse than what we are going through, and even
if he charges us $5 (which would be an outrageous sum) we would still be
better off. So we show him the hotel we considered walking to, and he
shakes his head to indicate it is no good. A bit baffled, we then point to
the hotel that had sounded interesting - a refurbished french colonial
building that had been built at the beginning of this century - and he
quickly nods his head with approval.
So off we go in the cab, after agreeing to a 10 yuan fare ($1.25) and when
we arrive they wait to make sure we get a room. I couldn't believe my eyes:
a plush waiting room, bellboys in traditional uniforms (complete with pill
box hat), unbelievably friendly staff who all seem to speak English, and
they had a summer special so that the room was only $45 a night, rather than
the usual $90 - and that included breakfast and a free 45 minute massage!
So we go up to the room to find a young woman laying out our slippers, a
fruit plate, and best of all, CNN! We died laughing at the difference
between the room and the boat - and thought how we would have kicked
ourselves if we found this hotel the next night!
So Wuhan, it turns out, is full of friendly people. We spent two days
seeing the sights (amazing bells excavated from a tomb - got the CD) waiting
for our train to Xian. The second night in the hotel was as good as the
first. Had Peking duck that puts most resturaunts in San Francisco to
shame, and then walked out to the lobby to enjoy a string quartet - it was
like we were in some old Agatha Christie movie, with all the rich foreigners
in an expensive hotel in a strange country. Amazing!
Well, we made it to Xian - saw the Terracotta Warriors today (gives us new
hope to excavate our own furry warrior, Walter, buried in our back yard),
and plan to see the museums tomorrow. This city seems very modern and clean
- a bit of a departure from what we have seen until now. From here we are
off to Beijing, and then down the coast as far as we can go until we have to
fly back to Hong Kong to catch our flight to Nepal. Traveling is definitely
hard work - four months now seems like a long time. But we are amazed at
what we have seen so far, and the impressions we now have of a country we
knew next to nothing about just a few months ago.
And a quick note for my Mandarin teacher, Wang Laoshi. My Mandarin isn't
very good - but all the locals are impressed by my ability to pronounce
things. I am trying hard to make myself talk, but then all I get back is a
flurry of Mandarin, of which I understand very little. However, I think my
ability to ask if they speak English (hui bu hui jiang Ingwen?) makes them
smile and know I am at least trying.
Truth be told, Eric is better at communicating than I am - the 6 month
Pantomine class he took seems to be paying off. His ability to describe
"wake-up call at 8 am" and "I am not paying for this dish because it had a
foot long hair in it" just has to be seen to be believed.
Hope all is well at home. Eric and I are willing to take bribes from people
at both Genentech and Chiron to keep us away - it appears our abscence has
driven up the stock price in both cases...
take care,
Sue and Eric
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