See you later Beijing!

What a day! Today was the day we left the wonderful Beijing and headed south. We made our train this morning with only minutes to spare. We should of really realised from our bike ride to the station the other day that although on the metro map the station looks close it really isn't! Taking off 3 bags for each security check was also getting quite tedious so when we made it to the train it was a huge literal weight of our shoulders! The train was very nice and clean and we arrived in Taiyuan within 3 hours. We weren't very optimistic about that hotel we had booked but when the taxi driver just dropped us off on a street and told us to walk down an alley we were even more sceptical. We entered a maze of streets with shops that all looked the same. No one knew where this place was! We adopted a lovely guy who didn't speak English who actually spent 20 minutes with us walking around until he found the place for us. It then took another 20 minutes or so to try and explain to the desk our reservation. We soon realised we are so out in the middle of no where with no one who speaks English that staying here would result in us not being able to do anything or get anywhere. We made the decision to find another hostel and the lady at the desk was very helpful at flagging down a taxi and asking the driver where to go. We arrived expecting a private room that we had reserved but it wasn't to be. The bed was broken so they only had dormitories. By this point we wanted our own space to just relax so began to look for somewhere else and found another hotel further north which we reserved. While doing so the owner used another guest who spoke a little English to actually offer us a night for free in dorms then a night in private room for 100 yuan because the place we had booked was so far away. So kind of him really that we decided to stay. He also gave us one of the tiny oranges as an apology which tasted delicious. For only 10 yuan or around £1.20 each the owner cooked us a group dinner with the other guests who are all Chinese and we sat and ate together which was in itself such a special experience even if we both did suffer from biting on chillies! We spent all evening with them playing cards and trying to break language barriers but the sense of humour kept the atmosphere alive. Nick even blagged himself a free haircut tomorrow! As a woman's jacket in Beijing taught us we need to "Keep clam and forever has no end".Baca lagi