Heading inland...

Sunday 1st April 2007

A very early start precluded breakfast but we were bussed to the ferry departure pier quickly and through baggage.  Before long we were on the hydrofoil and having a munch.  It gave us an opportunity to chat to the others as we were seated all over the place in the boat.  V took the chance to catch up on some sleep missed from the previous night but I stayed awake nattering the whole time, quelle surprise!

After collecting more passport stamps coming through Chinese immigration we were introduced to our guide, Eric, immediately.  On the bus trip to Guangzhou he gave us a fascinating mini history lesson, before we dumped the bags in a local hotel and headed for lunch, a lovely mix of Canton meat and veggie dishes, with the egg & shrimp and pork & cashew nuts proving very popular!

After a brief stop at the supermarket, during which we had our first experience of the 'fresh' food on sale (live frogs, turtles and tanks of fish) and picked up some supplies for the princely sum of about 80p we headed back to the hotel to pick up the bags and then bundled into taxis for the train station.

Our first experience of taxis in this country preceded our first experience of Chinese railways.  Both are quite something.  Lanes on the road are a state of mind while the train station was just heaving!  The amount of people there was just staggering!  Our group had to form a kind of scrum to get through!  It was a bit like being part of a tiny stream becoming part of a torrent, where personal space just doesn't exist.  Couple this with the heat and humidity and you've got some sticky moments!

When you make it to the door it's the quickest security procedure ever as you whip off your rucksack, get shoved through and chuck it on the X-ray machine, run through the scanner and collect it on the other side before someone else gets there.  Eric managed to blag his way into the special lounge for us, which is apparently reserved for pregnant women and the like, where we took a breather before re-joining the heaving mass of humanity heading for the train.

On the train and suffice to say it's nothing like the trains here, for all the criticism we (rightly) give them.  Check out the pictures at the top for an idea.  Like a long corridor, each cubicle has 6 bunks and a very thin corridor at their end.  Being a hard sleeper the beds lived up to their name, and I won't even start on the toilets... for now.  Let's just say they go in for the whole unisex toilet idea here in a big way!

Oh well, this is travelling, China-style and we love it!