Nov 24 2013: Buses and Trains and Taxis, Oh My!

We were up early in the morning a little after six. I sat around and watched them try to wake up for a bit and then we were getting dressed, grabbing our things, and stepping out. We caught the 7 o’clock bus back into town just in time.

As I mentioned, timing for trains didn’t work for our return trip so we’d be taking a bus instead, and it would be a little more expensive but definitely faster. Luckily Nicole talked on the phone with them as we headed into town to sort out what stop to get off, and to make sure they would wait for us- which they did, thank goodness!

We got off about 7:45 which was the time the bus was supposed to leave.

However, we weren’t leaving just yet. I joined Katie and Nicole under some shelter away from the sprinkling and Katie suggested we get food if we were to wait for a few minutes. We just stepped around the corner to get freaking huge dumplings- as big as my face- and then on the way back we grabbed a drink as well. They got bean/peanut and I got corn. More into that later.

The lady who led us from the first bus hurried us to the next, a nicer tourist one. We boarded in a hurry, and took our seats. Katie took a window seat and I sat beside her, Nicole across the aisle from us.

And we were off!

We enjoyed our toasty warm large dumplings. The bread was very sweet and super enjoyable. And there was a lot of vegetables in there, too! Noodles, as well, and it made quite the perfect breakfast. Katie snacked also on her drink which was literally ground soybeans and kind of like peanut butter. Mine was literally warm pulverized corn. Interesting, but not enough to drink the whole thing. They had been super cheap though, less than 5 RMB, I think.

After we finished our food, we napped. It didn’t last too long. Katie and I were up about forty minutes later, and silently watched the countryside. It was spectacular, just lovely. So much greenery and life going on.

Then it got bumpy, which was pretty fun.

Finally we pulled into Nanning and we’re pretty positive the bus driver was lost because we wandered around for an extra 20 minutes or so before pulling up on the street by the train station. This time we already had our tickets, and headed straight in.

We only had an hour or so to wait. For once, our train would actually be on time. Crazy! But it was perfect. We wandered around, use the restroom, and stood in line. Finally, we headed past the gate and onto the train!

Unfortunately, there had been a slight mix up. I wasn’t going to be on the same row as them. I wasn’t even in the same car as them.

Luckily, I was in the car right next to them. I argued a few minutes with the ticket-checker at their car, but he refused to let me through so I had to walk back a car, finding Katie looking through the window and looking very confused- none of us had realized the difference in my number. But they found me shortly after I found my bunk, and Nicole tried to see if anyone would trade, but they wouldn’t.

All the same, I put my things down and joined them for a bit. By then, we were headed out! It was a slow start and we didn’t know what to do, since it was shortly after noon. We weren’t quite hungry or feeling anything. Katie decided she’d take a nap and I asked to use her kindle.

She put a book up on there for me to use, something by Ted Dekker. I’ve read his work before. He’s quite the funky Christian. It started out super awesome, kids tricked into a mental facility… but then it just got weird. I can handle weird, but this was definitely pushing the limits. Seriously. Katie came over when I had 9% left, so I promised I’d be there in a minute. Overall, ridiculous book, I don’t really suggest it unless you want read something odd that will never truly make any logical sense. And when it’s too odd for me,  you’ve got to know something’s up.

Anyways, I headed over, and returned the kindle. We watched the scenery go by and talked about the book and other things for a bit while Nicole dozed. We were in mountain rock range, and it was brilliant! Super random boulder hills covered in greenery and little villages and people growing food and cutting it down… It was such a great image of China, I loved it. Unfortunately the camera was being crappy and Katie’s phone was dead so we never even got a picture of the incredible landscape. But how we enjoyed it when it was there!

Soon, Nicole was up and we pulled out her cards to play Beat the Boss! Which was fun, and pretty crazy. The lady in the bunk across started helping Katie, too. I sat in the middle so they could totally see my cards, which was not cool! Still, we had a good bit of fun.

Finally Katie and I pulled out our noodle bowls and ate for a bit. When I had joined her to talk shortly before, I had eaten three fruit sticks and some chocolate [fake but not too bad], and my stomach wasn’t taking too well and she thought I looked sick, so I went back to my bunk.

I sort of dozed, did a lot of thinking, wrote in my notebook, things like that until about 6 when I dropped by to use the restroom and see what they were up to- playing games on Nicole’s computer. They seemed busy so I didn’t want to bother them and returned to my bunk for the rest of the night. Pretty boring. Katie and Nicole did some more chatting in the meantime and had the rest of the snacks to pass the time.

Lights went out about ten, and in our separate beds we dozed a bit until it was time to start getting ready to land in Guiyang- which it was supposed to do at midnight. I switched out my ticket and got everything ready then joined Katie and Nicole, but the train was a bit slow and we didn’t stop until 12:30.

We were home! And it was cold.

Nicole’s boyfriend was waiting for us, and we sort of said hello but he doesn’t speak English. Nicole bargained a cab for us and we climbed in. She said good night and she was off.

And then it was a decent nightmare. The cab driver stuck around for another ten minutes, seriously, trying to get more people in the cab. They jack up the prices after dark, and want to make as much as possible. He tried talking to Katie and we got the geist of it: he was having a hard time getting anyone else in our direction, so he wanted us to pay 70 instead of 40, because he was going to try at least 50 at first, when in the daytime it’s barely 30. Messed up or what?

Luckily it was Katie he was talking to, and she said absolutely no, and even offered to leave, but he needed the money so finally, finally, we headed out. Then he picked up another guy- he tried picking up people a few times, slowing down, and taking different roads.

Our phones were both dead, but Nicole had told him. Except he forgot. The guy he picked up spoke sparse English so we translated through him to get to the Poly Hot Springs Resort. But we have no idea what route he was taking and Katie didn’t even know which means trouble.

It was really frustrating, over all, and stupid, and now Katie harbors distrust and distaste towards all cab drivers. Beware. Seriously. It was frustrating. We finally got there, though, paid the forty, and left. It was freezing! We walked up, put our things down, put some laundry in and finally climbed into bed.

After all the lying around it was hard for us to sleep! Katie was even up to pull out the laundry and everything around 2 AM, it was a bit ridiculous. All the same, we did eventually get some sleep after the crazy trip we’d been on!